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When people startup, they should forget about two things: Doing Something Brand New and Getting Rich. Let me explain why. Startup is an alternate form of learning, of growth, of work, of life. It is different from salaried job.
Why do people say things:
- there is nothing new under the sun
- everything that needs to be invented has been invented
When it seems there are so many problems to solve, so many products to make, so many chances to take?
Why "doing something new" is not practical
Why is that the world seems "full of vacuums', "full of chances' and yet it is very full?
The reason is industrial revolution and scaled production. In the industrial age, individual work can not match what factory can achieve. If you can grow tomato, you can never match a factory that took 10 million to build that only grow tomatoes. They produce better tomatoes and sell cheaper. And they make money, after many years of paying off the daring loans. A tomato factory can never get VC funding. It is high risk and low return.
If you look at a map of a place, there is high ways and then all the rest is empty. It may seem there is a lot of empty land, just like there might be a lot of places for ideas to land. But people and goods only get transported on the high way. The highway is lonely but busy, because it is efficient.
On a city map, people crowd the high way even when they know the highway is crowded. This is the same reason about the busy market and channel. They are efficient. The difference between a farmer's market stand and the super market is dramatic - if you start a small company, your life will be like that farmer - work for money, work for break even, work for "feeding the family", work for "pay the bill".
The world seems mostly empty, but there is no chance to take. There is no vacuum.
It may seem there is end less vacuum for clever person to think.
end less problems to solve
end less new things to create to benefit the society
clever shortcuts
perfect ideas in vacuum
Most of the time, these are fake ideas. You need to figure out how to realize that idea. You need to prepare:
you need to prepare relations
you need to prepare market insights
you need to prepare skills
You need to bring the idea to scale, so it is not a hobby or a solo enterprise or efforts. Only then may you present your target audience enough value.
A solopreneur on "road less travelled" trying to get rich is like this.
Why "getting rich" is not practical
If you want to get rich through startup, it is like someone trying to learn baking and expect to be rich, or someone learning sports in high school and expecting to be rich. Yes, there are rich bakery owners and there are rich sports stars, but they are the exception, not the rule.
Startup is just work. If you do this by yourself, trying to do something new, then the risk is squared. First, your alone-status is risky. Second, your new status is risky.
Startup is just a work - you give enough work and people will pay a price for keeping you. You should be happy that you found the customer, but you should never expect to get rich or get rested, because you have to grow your business and you must keep your customers pampered. And you need to fend off competitors, which is like fly to a meat market.