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I don't want to be too snarky, but is this news to anyone? Who is building start-ups that are trying to be everything all at once? Who has that many resources?

Stenerson 12y ago
It's not news but sometimes people get lost. It's really easy to get caught up in gold plating or chasing fringe customers. I think it's good to have a reminder every now and again. Focus on what your company is good at and win your target market. Adjacent markets will come if your target focus is executed at a high enough level.
mgkimsal 12y ago
It's probably not news, but doesn't really give any advice on how to focus. I've worked with many folks who think they are focusing on 'one thing', but that 'one thing' happens to be ... "change the world" level focus. "Our target market is women" is just... impractical. Was working with a client trying to get a narrowed focus of that 'one thing' to latch on to, vs the "this tool will do ABCXYZ for all working people". We got to the point where, when imagining potential users, there were more people who were not a fit than who were a fit, and things picked up after there. Suddenly there was one problem that was being solved for one particular type of person in one industry, and it became easier to focus everything else around that.
jfernandez 12y ago
I see a problem too when these sort of articles are a little too abstract/simple. I think the solution here is ground articles like this on, you know, real startups that have succeeded on focusing. In that respect there are few sites that try to address this issue. I think what articles like this me is that the author/company has 'figured it out' through their own experiences and are so excited to share that joy in some way.
- zabramow 12y ago
  Agree. The article is total fluff. Also, Pinterest started out as Tote when it was many things and they found one feature that really caught on. It's good to focus, but let's not pretend like there's some magic recipe.
jakejake 12y ago
It's nothing new, but this mindset can sneak up on you if you are not diligent. It rarely is so simple as A, B & C. As your software is evolving and improving, you could get off track on features that seem reasonable. It's hard to know whether you are breaking new ground or simply veering off course. My company has a niche software product and we have people contacting us all the time who love it, but find it missing just one feature to get their business. That feature may happen to be extremely difficult to write or have limited use to our core customers. But if this is a large company or a lucrative contract then it can be very difficult to resist. There may be times where, financially, you really need the income. It could even mean the difference between staying in business or not. So, it is not always so cut and dry when you're in the middle of it.

Stenerson 12y ago

It's not news but sometimes people get lost. It's really easy to get caught up in gold plating or chasing fringe customers. I think it's good to have a reminder every now and again. Focus on what your company is good at and win your target market. Adjacent markets will come if your target focus is executed at a high enough level.

mgkimsal 12y ago

It's probably not news, but doesn't really give any advice on how to focus. I've worked with many folks who think they are focusing on 'one thing', but that 'one thing' happens to be ... "change the world" level focus. "Our target market is women" is just... impractical. Was working with a client trying to get a narrowed focus of that 'one thing' to latch on to, vs the "this tool will do ABCXYZ for all working people". We got to the point where, when imagining potential users, there were more people who were not a fit than who were a fit, and things picked up after there. Suddenly there was one problem that was being solved for one particular type of person in one industry, and it became easier to focus everything else around that.

jfernandez 12y ago

I see a problem too when these sort of articles are a little too abstract/simple. I think the solution here is ground articles like this on, you know, real startups that have succeeded on focusing. In that respect there are few sites that try to address this issue. I think what articles like this me is that the author/company has 'figured it out' through their own experiences and are so excited to share that joy in some way.

zabramow 12y ago
Agree. The article is total fluff. Also, Pinterest started out as Tote when it was many things and they found one feature that really caught on. It's good to focus, but let's not pretend like there's some magic recipe.

jakejake 12y ago

It's nothing new, but this mindset can sneak up on you if you are not diligent. It rarely is so simple as A, B & C. As your software is evolving and improving, you could get off track on features that seem reasonable. It's hard to know whether you are breaking new ground or simply veering off course. My company has a niche software product and we have people contacting us all the time who love it, but find it missing just one feature to get their business. That feature may happen to be extremely difficult to write or have limited use to our core customers. But if this is a large company or a lucrative contract then it can be very difficult to resist. There may be times where, financially, you really need the income. It could even mean the difference between staying in business or not. So, it is not always so cut and dry when you're in the middle of it.