Start-Ups != Internet
August 27, 2012A couple days ago, I spotted Diego Basch’s musings on Silicon Valley versus the Internet.
I certainly agree with his point, but I think there’s a far bigger point here. Diego says Silicon Valley is not the same as the Internet, but then there’s also the point that Silicon Valley isn’t the only start up game in town (granted, I’m saying that as the lead web developer at Viddy on Silicon Beach, but hey).
I know I fall into the trap all the time that start-ups have to be some web app or mobile app or a combination or cross-platform, what-have-you. In reality, there are so many more opportunities for start-ups than that. The web and mobile space is just a much easier place for entry – the cost is so much lower, the opportunity cost is the highest portion of this.
Many other areas: automotive, healthcare, insurance, finance, are all ripe with inefficiencies, poor experiences, wastes or gluttons that there are plenty of places a start-up could come in and really disrupt what’s around them. Personally, I’m hoping against hope that Simple might be that for banking, granted, it’s all of those things I mentioned: mobile, website, etc, but it has an extreme potential to disrupt an industry that has gotten a whole lot of flak and is known for a terrible customer experience.
It might be harder to break into other areas, but it being harder could get you that much more in the end.
