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Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

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Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#101

Post by cutler »

ethbr0 wrote: post #39
mushufasa wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most of these ideas fold because travel is very cold market for an investor and most dont want to invest. This isn't true. For example, AirBnB has plenty of funding. Investors as the constraint currently happens for capital-intensive opportunities, like nuclear fusion. There's plenty of investors for software as a service. There are lots of other reasons why there aren't more "apps for x." The main barrier for any…

The killer feature that AirBnB cracked was scaling. Travel advice inherently doesn't scale -- you saw it with Frommers et al. pre-web. High investment to develop content, constant need to update, and your success cannibalizes your own business. The sorts of people who want travel advice are typically not the sort who want 1,000 other jackass Americans (said as a travelling American) showing up at "that tiny gem of a…

> The killer feature that AirBnB cracked was scaling.

And with Ruby on Rails that's nothing short of high magic.

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#102

Post by Retric »

fxtentacle wrote: post #94
pontus wrote: post #83

I keep hearing over and over again how the idea doesn't matter and it's all about "execution execution execution!". I get that execution is important, but can we also agree that the idea is important too? I get that good ideas are easier to come by than good execution, but I kind of feel like completely discounting the idea also missed the point. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have a hard time coming up with a super successf…

I believe that greatly depends on how you define the idea. In my definition, the idea for Google was: "Get advertisers to pay for a free information portal." That idea doesn't seem much different to "Advertisers pay for a free newspaper", which was common practice at the time. Similarly, "Advertisers pay for free classified ads" was common, too, but it's how Facebook started out. "Pay for a car ride" = Uber also does…

When people talk about ideas it’s not that great ideas win, it’s bad ideas lose. Starting by selling books online like Amazon is better than selling pet food online like Pets.com from both a shipping cost per lb and the value of having a usefully huge selection vs basically selling commodities.

Pet owners often care about buying the same food every time, but few people are buying hundreds of copies of the same book.

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#103

Post by crusty »

fxtentacle wrote: post #94
pontus wrote: post #83

I keep hearing over and over again how the idea doesn't matter and it's all about "execution execution execution!". I get that execution is important, but can we also agree that the idea is important too? I get that good ideas are easier to come by than good execution, but I kind of feel like completely discounting the idea also missed the point. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have a hard time coming up with a super successf…

I believe that greatly depends on how you define the idea. In my definition, the idea for Google was: "Get advertisers to pay for a free information portal." That idea doesn't seem much different to "Advertisers pay for a free newspaper", which was common practice at the time. Similarly, "Advertisers pay for free classified ads" was common, too, but it's how Facebook started out. "Pay for a car ride" = Uber also does…

"...advertisers pay for free classifieds" - profit or brain melt?

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#104

Post by person_of_color »

ineedasername wrote: post #70
person_of_color wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are multimillion dollar ideas?

Buy a popular franchise. McDonalds net profit is estimated around $150,000 per year. That's after any reasonable salary you are also paying yourself. Based on typical margins, that alone, in gross revenue, is > $1,000,000/year.

I want multimillion profits not revenue

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#105

Post by sjg007 »

raverbashing wrote: post #89
pontus wrote: post #83

I keep hearing over and over again how the idea doesn't matter and it's all about "execution execution execution!". I get that execution is important, but can we also agree that the idea is important too? I get that good ideas are easier to come by than good execution, but I kind of feel like completely discounting the idea also missed the point. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have a hard time coming up with a super successf…

True, and though selling soap and toothpaste is now 99.9% execution and 0.1% idea you probably won't get a billion dollar business out of it today. I guess a good idea now also contains a good idea on how to execute it as well.

I dunno. Kylie Jenner turned her makeup line into a billion dollars.

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#106

Post by manigandham »

blackrock wrote: post #22
manigandham wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the same time, selling ordinary things in a better way has also built many fortunes. I know several self-made people running ecommerce businesses in the most mundane spaces. There's plenty of opportunity everywhere.

List some examples.

Toothpaste (as pills rather than paste), chewing gum (nootropics/flavors), sneaker care stuff, home decor, and a very specific set of auto repair tools.

Those are 5 completely separate businesses ranging from 500k/yr to 5m/yr. Only the first is a "new" product.

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#107

Post by capnorange »

pontus wrote: post #83

I keep hearing over and over again how the idea doesn't matter and it's all about "execution execution execution!". I get that execution is important, but can we also agree that the idea is important too? I get that good ideas are easier to come by than good execution, but I kind of feel like completely discounting the idea also missed the point. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have a hard time coming up with a super successf…

I do believe execution is all the matters(from my experience) because ideas can always change.

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#108

Post by pontus »

capnorange wrote: post #107
pontus wrote: post #83

I keep hearing over and over again how the idea doesn't matter and it's all about "execution execution execution!". I get that execution is important, but can we also agree that the idea is important too? I get that good ideas are easier to come by than good execution, but I kind of feel like completely discounting the idea also missed the point. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have a hard time coming up with a super successf…

I do believe execution is all the matters(from my experience) because ideas can always change.

Sure, if you're allowing ideas to change then yes the very first idea is not important. Using your same logic, you could then also argue that execution doesn't matter because you can always fix mistakes in execution (e.g. Netflix tried spinning off Qwikster which many people thought was a mistake, but Netflix is still super successful today).

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#109

Post by pontus »

aaron695 wrote: post #99
pontus wrote: post #83

I keep hearing over and over again how the idea doesn't matter and it's all about "execution execution execution!". I get that execution is important, but can we also agree that the idea is important too? I get that good ideas are easier to come by than good execution, but I kind of feel like completely discounting the idea also missed the point. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have a hard time coming up with a super successf…

> but can we also agree that the idea is important too? No > a super successful company based on a bad idea. Magic Leap Super successful companies based on nothing ideas are a dime a dozen. Almost all sites. - Amazon, it sells things. It's execution was cutting edge. - Rocket-internet is a great example - https://www.businessinsider.com.au/rocket-internet-companies... Even the great mathematical ideas were execution.…

I would argue that Magic Leap is not super successful. They have raised tons of money in the private market but much of it seems to have been smoke and mirrors (similar to e.g. Theranos).

Could you point me to a super successful public company with a proven track record, high revenues, rising stock price, etc. that is focused around a bad idea?

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#110

Post by pontus »

aaron695 wrote: post #99
pontus wrote: post #83

I keep hearing over and over again how the idea doesn't matter and it's all about "execution execution execution!". I get that execution is important, but can we also agree that the idea is important too? I get that good ideas are easier to come by than good execution, but I kind of feel like completely discounting the idea also missed the point. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have a hard time coming up with a super successf…

> but can we also agree that the idea is important too? No > a super successful company based on a bad idea. Magic Leap Super successful companies based on nothing ideas are a dime a dozen. Almost all sites. - Amazon, it sells things. It's execution was cutting edge. - Rocket-internet is a great example - https://www.businessinsider.com.au/rocket-internet-companies... Even the great mathematical ideas were execution.…

Also, giving examples of good ideas without good execution that failed (e.g. your point about cryptocurrency) does not actually show that ideas don't matter, they show that ideas are not sufficient, something I completely agree with.
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