Hacker News Reader

Comment by rmdoss | Hacker News Reader

Too much content without addressing the real problem with most startups:

They do not solve a customer problem.

Solve their problem, make their life better and you will do well.

How do startups exist without customers paying them to solve a problem? From convincing investors that the problem exists? It sounds like the investors are the real customers and a narrative is the product they produce.

Some startups do very well. Uber, Lyft, Square Cash/Venmo, Yelp, those really do solve problems many of us have/had.

Then a few tech startups doing analytics I had some experience with, probably overpromised (?? perhaps it was my fault) what their engine could do. Requests are often in backlog and can take many months to roll out, which by then contract renewal is up.

I don't quite understand why Yelp's on that list — do you mind elaborating?

Sure. This is my view. I want to know nearby resturants and their reviews. I want see photos of the dishes. I want to see the decor. I want to see discounts if any. I want to see open hours. I want to search based on location, cusine, pricing etc. i know Google does this now, but Yelp was the first to make all the above well in one place. Google doesn’t have an app dedicated at all, just search. Yelp solved my problems. I think you can agree with me you would hear “let’s yelp it/check on yelp” when someone looks for resturants. I also use Yelp beyond just resturants. I was looking for a new dentist and I found him on Yelp after some reviews online. I got to see the good reviews and photos of his office. I was lucky those reviews were real. If I were new to a city I might check out Yelp and TripAdvisor for some reviews and recommenations.

The best ones ignore the "scratch your own itch" advice and look for a problem that is outside their comfort area that has not yet been attacked.

The best startups without customers? Aren't those the worst startups?

Nope. Areas where customers are currently solving their problems without the use of technology.

Markets form around problems, not solutions.

This is mentioned in the "Marketing" part as one of the core research questions. I agree that it should be addressed more but didn't want to overload the article – it's long enough already.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com