DILBERT DOES IT AGAIN
I am lucky to work with a lot of startups across many different industries that are attempting to solve a variety of pain points, both big and small. Through these interactions and having seen a few life cycles, I have changed my outlook over the 5 or so years I’ve been in the startup community as to what businesses I find interesting. My money is on startups that are trying to do one of two things: (1) changing the paradigm of an existing business (usually a big business with slow moving participants) (e.g. Infochimps - creating an online marketplace for data that will appeal to businesses, academics and individuals) or (2) filling a void (which may or may not be a short term play) (e.g. Nutshell Mail - email-based web account overload management). I like these models because with (1)’s you can attract venture capital and really hit it big (think Amazon), and with (2)’s you can make a lot of money in a short period of time, either by charging for your service or getting acquired (think xobni). Obviously these have their risks, with (1)’s the risk is failure (think Webvan), and with (2)’s time is your enemy - if you are making money the space will get crowded and someone may solve the problem better than you or you will eventually be outdated (think redbox). The worst thing you can do is be a me-too business. That is what the Dilbert cartoon is referring to, and that is where veoh failed. At least they went big. Don’t be just another me-too iPhone, twitter or web app, unless you are really filling a void and someone will pay big for you to solve their pain (think salesforce).
