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Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

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Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#131

Post by OJFord »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #118
imtringued wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes people just want to talk about a certain topic, regardless of the article's contents. The headline just gives them a convenient excuse.

As 'CPLX says, for many of us the article itself is just a discussion prompt. Quite often (I'd say half of the time), the tangents and off-topics in the HN discussions are way more insightful and interesting than the submitted article.

Almost all of the time I submit something, that's exactly why: I want to read the HN comments, but there aren't any yet!

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#132

Post by Pick-A-Hill2019 »

" But guess what, they had no idea how to use our tool or integrate it within their workflow. And to be honest, nor did we. "

Uhmm, think I spotted their problem right there. If they (as the creators) couldn't figure out how it would fit in to a prospective customers' workflow then that is both an incredibly difficult proposition to sell and also an incredible waste of time for the customers that did decide to try it out. Appologies if someone has already stated that (read the article , skimmed the commments)

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#133

Post by Doctor_Fegg »

acidbaseextract wrote: post #103
warent wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not even about bleeding edge products. It's a lengthy article about the pitfalls of entering a market with no market validation, which the author slapped lipstick on and gave this sexy title.

I had my first startup fail in the late 2000s because we built a sales prediction software that sounded cool, but nobody actually wanted. We even had a large paid pilot with a major auto manufacturer, but they didn't renew when it turned out that none of their employees had actually used the software. Making something nobody wants is a classic startup mistake. I resolved not to make it again and read a great deal abo…

April Dunford's "Obviously Awesome" is new(ish) and very good on this topic.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#134

Post by quickthrower2 »

imposterr wrote: post #18
deckeraa wrote: post #10

There's a distinction to be made: - If your business doesn't rely on new technology, then avoid bleeding edge tech (examples: you retail co-working space, rent apartments, do food/grocery delivery, etc.) - If your business model does rely on new technology (examples: airlines in the early 20th century, railroads in the early days of the steam engine, e-commerce in the early 2000s) then you have to work out a way to d…

>Though even in the latter scenario, it's still prudent to narrow the scope of your bleeding-edge tech as much as possible (e.g. if you're doing a cryptocurrency app, you probably shouldn't be trying to make your own NoSQL database at the same time). Nonsense, the database is the back up plan so you can pivot to a DB company if your main thing doesn't work out.

Make your own pencil factory for the stationary cabinet too, as a backup plan. Buy a coffee plantation to fuel your devs caffeine habit, which can be monetised if the main biz goes south.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#135

Post by quickthrower2 »

wbl wrote: post #129
atoav wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are these geniuses that can do something they never did before and create something truly amazing. But realistically even they don't manage to deliver on that the majority of the time. Even the steam engine people had to rely on known standard parts like screws and bolts and known planing or manufacturing procedures that they didn't invent. Only because they knew which forces a bolt would withstand and learned…

The standarized screw was after the steam engine. It wasn't until 1841 that Whitworth promulgated his thread. Before then every rail manufacturer had their own house standard.

It was standard to use unstandardised screws.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#136

Post by rikroots »

vincnetas wrote: post #46

Has any of commenters read the article? Looks like everyone talks about using bleeding edge tech in startup and how its bad, but this article is about building a bleeding edge product and how difficult is to sell such product (probably because everyone know that using bleeding edge products is dangerous :) )

I read the article before coming to read the HN response to it. I haven't read beyond your top-of-the-thread comment.

The article resonated deeply with me, because I know just how the author feels. I, too, have developed a software product that attempts to address a key failing in one of the (more under-utilized) DOM elements we have at our disposal when building websites. I can see the problem, and some of the solutions - but other developers are simply not interested. I've marketed the product to the best of my abilities, written blog posts about why I think this is an important issue. I've even tried to engage with people supposedly interested in overcoming the failing to help me make the product even better ... ... nothing.

The harsh truth is you can't market a solution to a problem that nobody else believes is a problem in the first place.

I've posted links to my product on a number of occasions to HN, both as 'Show HN' threads and in comments. Engagement has been minimal. My most upvoted comment on HN was a contribution to a thread about octopuses. Maybe HN is trying to tell me that I would be better off developing a standup comedy routine? Whatever. Unlike the author and his company, I'll not be pivoting away from my product in the near future: I just need to find new ways to shove its existence into people's faces.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#137

Post by acd10j »

vincnetas wrote: post #46

Has any of commenters read the article? Looks like everyone talks about using bleeding edge tech in startup and how its bad, but this article is about building a bleeding edge product and how difficult is to sell such product (probably because everyone know that using bleeding edge products is dangerous :) )

Sometimes I read comments first before deciding to read article.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#138

Post by justforyou »

Has nothing to do with bleeding edge. Problem is trivial to solve for anyone who actually needs to. It's not surprising a land grab to be an overcomplicated middleman service that is not needed and contributes zero value failed.

What is astonishing is that after the fact someone is still trying to extract value from it by positioning obvious learnings as insights.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#139

Post by donkeyd »

I have to disagree with the premise of the article. I've built a 'bleeding-edge' product for a very traditional market (public affairs) and succeeded. It's not because of the tech that a startup fails (unless the tech just doesn't work).

Yes, it's hard to sell something people don't understand, but that's marketing. So you figure out their needs and the needs that your product fills and you focus on that.

Pricing? You look at the cost of not using your product and go from there. Are you automating a human task that a single person does an hour a day? Start with that. Is your product reducing failures? Find out what those failures are costing. Start with that. Are you competing with a different product? Undercut or make sure your product adds more value.

Product? Get a couple of 'beta testers' and interact with them, often. Find out what they want for them to buy the product and focus on stuff you and other beta testers agree with.

Mental? Yeah, it is. running a startup isn't easy and nobody said it was. It took us over a year to proof that we could to what we wanted and nearly another to get to something we could sell. I got burnt out and ended up leaving.

Now, though, they started hiring and are getting more well-known in the PA community. Even PA firms are starting to lose customers to the tech I designed and built. It was never easy, it was very hard, but it wasn't because of the tech, it was because starting a business is bloody hard.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#140

Post by gaogao »

imposterr wrote: post #18
deckeraa wrote: post #10

There's a distinction to be made: - If your business doesn't rely on new technology, then avoid bleeding edge tech (examples: you retail co-working space, rent apartments, do food/grocery delivery, etc.) - If your business model does rely on new technology (examples: airlines in the early 20th century, railroads in the early days of the steam engine, e-commerce in the early 2000s) then you have to work out a way to d…

>Though even in the latter scenario, it's still prudent to narrow the scope of your bleeding-edge tech as much as possible (e.g. if you're doing a cryptocurrency app, you probably shouldn't be trying to make your own NoSQL database at the same time). Nonsense, the database is the back up plan so you can pivot to a DB company if your main thing doesn't work out.

Or if you're a game studio, build a messaging platform to pivot to e.g. Slack and Discord.
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