This contributes to the perpetual oversupply of solutions from problems suffered by technically-inclined male twenty-somethings. Then you get to try shouting louder than all the other startups so that instead of the technically-inclined male twenty-somethings not paying for the thing the other guy makes they're not paying for the thing you make.
I built something I wanted: a business. It solves problems which were actually experienced by Real People. They also actually pay money for things, which is a nice feature to have in a customer.
from everything I've heard about it, I still don't understand what problem it solves that isn't already solved. It feels like a really esoteric use case for hyper-geeky people who for some reason aren't smart enough to use one of the 1000 other hyper-geeky fluffy techno-web-gizmos to do the same thing with already.
Now that I've said this, I'm sure in a year I'll be wave-ified. :)
You can use this do-it-yourself argument in every sector of the industry. But it all comes down to the amount of reward per effort.
Do you want to be the first in a store on Black Friday or the last? Do you want to be the first in a gold rush or the last? As the amount of competitors increase, your profit will decrease.
From an economic perspective, a monopoly is usually more lucrative. If you feel there's enough money in a crowded sector and think you can carve out a niche or shake the industry, then it becomes economically viable. I think this is a more realistic outtake than the author's "just-do-it" message.
For business, being the second to do something is often a nice position to be in.
Google was not the first search engine. iPod was not the first digital music player. Microsoft was never first at anything, as far as I can remember.
Of course, once the market has a clear Google, iPod, or Word, probably time to try a different idea. But a product category with no clear leader can be a great market to enter.
Another point is that your way of doing it will be slightly different - in emphasis, in design, in features, in performance. It's even possible that an "defect" in your approach is actually benefit in some niche. So you are never in direct competition with anyone. It can be hard to accept not being the "best" or the one-and-only (for me, anyway), but if you're doing something that helps someone, something needed and/or wanted, then you're doing something worthwhile and valuable. And if you're doing something valuable, it's natural for some of that value to come to you.
Personal experience: after I made the first prototype of my product, I discovered that several other people had the idea (it was kinda obvious), and had launched products. If I'd done the research first, I would have been discouraged, to some extent, and maybe wouldn't have started. As it happens, I totally killed in that market.
Define "team", but I think you are overgeneralizing.
"A company/team is getting a group of really smart people together to work towards the same common goal and vision while making a living. "
That's all it is to me. Have a goal/vision that is so awe inspiring that it attracts really smart and great people to work together with you to achieve it.