Ian Landsman is Starting From Scratch, June 4, 2006:
Bubble Burst
If you're in the market for a powerful and user friendly Help Desk solution, please take a look at my company's flagship product HelpSpot."Well, the inevitable is starting to happen - a few new web startups are starting to close up shop as they find that building an application is a lot easier than getting users to try it out and keep coming back" - TechCrunch
Um, of course it's not really the fact that they can't get people to try it out, it's that they build things people don't want and never wanted. They don't solve any problems people have and they're merely technology showcases. Are we supposed to feel sad these things are going under? I think not. Better they go under now while the repercussions are low than later when a new bubble forms and they drag the rest of us down with them.
Discussion
TechCrunch is a daily parade of solutions for problems that don't exist. The other day he showcased a "social networking" app that was nothing more than a user account system hooked up to a random number generator, because people apparently need to meet random strangers.
The problem is that most problems that people have are not fun to solve. That's why they are "problems" and not "puzzles." Customer service is hard, and is pretty much always only needed when something doesn't work. Hence, most organizations give it short shrift and there isn't a lot of innovation in the space because the problem isn't sexy to work on.
Created by Evan Wired on 06.04.2006 9:06 pm
Yeah, I don't really read TC for exactly that reason. I don't really learn anything interesting over there, but this post caught my eye.
I think what these other startups miss is that they don't think long term. Do they want to do something fun for 6 months then go back to The Man or do they want to make a career out of writing their own software? If they want a career then they need to find a way to make money AND have fun. There's so many industries that could benefit from these new web technologies. I'm sure the same technology that was in fold could have been used for numerous other types of software that actual solves a problem.
I don't feel bad that the companies go under, but I do feel bad that such obviously smart people are wasting their time.
Created by Ian on 06.04.2006 9:06 pm
I don't know that it's entirely a waste of their time. If they really are smart people, then they're going to learn a fair bit from their various failures, and there's some value in the knowledge gained from working in a specific realm of the web.
Social networks aren't going anywhere, and social networking is going to be a large component of almost every major mass consumer site. If people can interact with each other on the website, then there's relationships that need to be identified and explained.
What follows is a weak analogy I think, but perhaps mildly useful in explaining what I'm trying to say. Or maybe it's just more confusing.
If you look at telecomms in the late 90s leading up to and in the midst of the boom, they were laying all sorts of wire and spending crazy amounts on improving the network. There was no immediate gain, and there's still tons of dark fibre criss-crossing the continent, but we're really starting to reap the benefits of that investment as more and more people get broadband and internet access becomes more and more ubiquitous.
It was a waste of time and money, a whole lot of money, but in the long run there's some element of benefit from that misguided at the time investment. I think there's possibly an analog to pure research type work, too. A lot of dead ends are explored, but the knowledge gained sort of pays off in 5 to 10 years when there's a much better grasp on what was being explored.
None of that really excuses sinking millions of dollars into another dumb web app, but the people themselves are learning a ton about business and failure and even technology.
Created by Rob Drimmie on 06.04.2006 9:06 pm
I suppose. I'm sure they're learning and getting better at what they do, but rather than simply copying others (profitless) ideas why not learn by putting your smarts towards a problem people want solved. Finding problems people want solved is easy. Finding ones you can make a living off of is harder, but why not at least try? Wasting your time building sites that the only goal is get VC money and then no plan after that is generally a waste of time. Sure once in a while one hits, but it's like playing the lotto.
Created by Ian on 06.04.2006 9:06 pm
Most people don't understand that VC's are not dumb enough to invest in similar site like myspace. Every product or web application or website when hits the market , a user or consumer has a choice , the best one surives.This is how companies are made, the fittest survives. By reading some comments , it's like saying we have the best "Tropicana Orange Juice" we don't need any other orange juice .I'm pretty sure if you go a supermarket if you don't enough cash you will select one which is smiliar to tropicana brand. More the products more the options for consumer if your product is good consumers will come to you. I think VC's realized their past mistakes in bubble era, they are careful now.
my 2cents !! , let me know your thoughts.
Created by prakash on 06.04.2006 9:06 pm
Ian, I couldn't agree more. It's my opinion that you've just flat out got to solve a problem people have. See a deficiency in the world? Try to fill it with software.
Created by Michael Sica on 06.04.2006 9:06 pm
Hey Ian,
Just wanted to pick your mind for a second.
I'm looking for some ideas on what web-based product I should build. I read your article on 'Practical Entrepreneurs' and I'm interested in finding niches similar to yours, wether there is no established market leader and there is a clear demand of the product, etc.
Do you have any such niches in your mind? If not, have you got any suggestions on how I could go around finding one?
Cheers,
Ali.
Created by Ali on 06.04.2006 9:06 pm
Ali, I'll think about it a bit and write up a post on some markets I think might be good.
Created by Ian on 06.04.2006 9:06 pm
Really? thanks a bunch!
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Created by Ali on 06.04.2006 9:06 pm