Non-web startups, anyone is doing these?
Is seems that most of the people talking about startups imply a web app. Which makes me wonder if anyone is considering an embedded or more traditional desktop/server software product?
I started a company that has nothing to do with the web at all. After a few years, it has done quite well.
It seems that many believe here that the only form of entrepreneurship worth pursuing is web-based apps, or, failing that, a technology-oriented company.
But many startups do quite well by innovating with business processes, targeting inefficient industries, or offering more traditional but innovative products to underserved consumers or businesses.
For example, furniture seller Design Within Reach beat the pants off their VC funded online competitors in the late 90s, using the massive innovation of a paper catalogue. This worked because the furniture industry had extremely poor customer service, and they figured out how to fix that by being an excellent reseller; they knew that "being online" was not a magic pill.
There are huge margins, opportunities for disruption, potential for capital efficiency, and huge scaling advantages for software/tech businesses (which is why they are popular with VCs and entrepreneurs alike. But there are obviously plenty of examples of offline business that prosper (or even grow like gangbusters).
(Design within Reach is an awesome example, by the way)
In my opinion, the key insight from the business perspective is that the most mid-range to high-end mobile handset models will have user-friendly, App Store like payment procedures in three years time. And, at least in Europe, people are more used to paying for content in mobile compared to standard web.
bicycle parts manufacturing. Manufacturing has quite a different set of headaches.
I am getting involved in a plastics manufacturing business and reading like crazy to prepare myself for it.
And its delicious!
http://twofoolsfudge.com is the only web component.
IMO, there's nothing wrong with either web, desktop, mobile, or whatever, which is why I don't understand the web vs. desktop wars that sometimes rage around here. Just use the right tool for the job.
Thats why I can't wait to get my hands on Atlas and give Cappuccino a whirl. Complete flexibility between desktop and the web could create a one-size-fits-all solution.
That said, a large number of my startup clients (probably 60%+) are doing web-related apps as well.
predictably times are slow right now so to lift the profile of our startup she has created a blog at blog.boolos.com which is well received by her peers.
http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/?biz
I'm curious what the mathematical expectation of rewards per unit of effort put into various types of startups is. No one has probably tried to collect this sort of data.
I think there are some things you can do on the desktop that you can't do on the web. Or another way of looking at this -- the OS is simply a vastly complex web browser.
I thought about iPhone and Palm WebOS, but iPhone is saturated and Palm has crippled WebOS from doing anything truly fun.
I'd be curious to know who's working on non-software startups. Tim Ferriss got started with an energy/vitamin supplement.
My fiancee and I have formed a company around her custom jewelry and fashion designs. We're getting all the pieces in place and are very close to launching.
its an interesting prospect, since the niche isn't huge, but it has potential, and because the margins on some of the things i'm looking to produce will likely be thin, at least to start. definitely different from how something like a web app works.