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Ask HN: Industries Ripe For Disruption?

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Re: Ask HN: Industries Ripe For Disruption?

#21
post #7

Look at a lot of big traditional B2B businesses. They haven't gotten much coverage because they aren't sexy and visible to the normal consumer. - ERP ssystems are impossible to understand for the people that work with them, and require an army of highly paid consultants just to get it up and running. - financial software for large companies doesn't allow managers to see numbers in real-time, is difficult to get numbe…

I'm hiring people in this space if anyone is looking for a job.

Re: Ask HN: Industries Ripe For Disruption?

#22
Job search. There are a ton of competitors in this space, established and startup, but so far its all crap. I've been looking for a new job recently and I'm completely dissatisfied with everything that's out there. Craigslist is still probably the best resource for finding tech jobs, at least in San Francisco but there has to be a better way.

A couple of ideas have popped into my head recently about ways to really shake this area up and to make it into a profitable business to start.

Re: Ask HN: Industries Ripe For Disruption?

#24
post #22

Job search. There are a ton of competitors in this space, established and startup, but so far its all crap. I've been looking for a new job recently and I'm completely dissatisfied with everything that's out there. Craigslist is still probably the best resource for finding tech jobs, at least in San Francisco but there has to be a better way. A couple of ideas have popped into my head recently about ways to really sh…

Take the Markus Frind route. Go free and kick ass.

Re: Ask HN: Industries Ripe For Disruption?

#25

Higher Education. Existing institutions are selling inefficient and grossly overpriced products in an environment in which objective evaluation is hard to obtain and the status quo fears innovation. If you could crack that nut, it would be massive.

There is another bigger one: College Book Industry.

The current system is pretty inefficient. This probably differs from country to country. The current system here works like this:

The universities give lists of subjects and prescribed textbooks to brick-and-mortar bookstores. They then buy the books and sell them at a huge mark-up.

Students generally do not order online because of the time delay/import BS and many do not have a fixed postal address. Secondhand book sales are a bit of mess because it is not centralised, etc...

There are possibly quite a few ideas on how to make this system more effective (esp. in countries in which the internet penetration is not that high but the cellphone penetration is).

Re: Ask HN: Industries Ripe For Disruption?

#26
post #7

Look at a lot of big traditional B2B businesses. They haven't gotten much coverage because they aren't sexy and visible to the normal consumer. - ERP ssystems are impossible to understand for the people that work with them, and require an army of highly paid consultants just to get it up and running. - financial software for large companies doesn't allow managers to see numbers in real-time, is difficult to get numbe…

I'm hiring people in this space if anyone is looking for a job.

In the B2B space? That doesn't exactly narrow things down.

Re: Ask HN: Industries Ripe For Disruption?

#27
post #17
post #4

You mentioned it, but I think the music industry is really ripe for disruption. Their business model is definitely shifting as we speak. ebay/auction sites/local commerce can be done better.

The problem is that everyone knows that the music world is changing and wants in on the pie and so far Apple has done the best job. The bad part is that they are doing a pretty good job. The hardware is nice and works, the software for the most part does work and gets music easily and cheap to users who are for the most part happy. A high obstacle. Let others try attacking the music problem and instead try one of the…

That's assuming that the current lone model of "searchable mp3 catalog online for $ per song." There are many different ways to profit from music: artist interaction, live venues, merchandise, provide a quality recommendation/review service, etc. The current market is skewed heavily towards what the content that the industry thinks will sell, which receives the bulk of marketing.

Not to mention the fact that the market naturally segments into people of varying levels of interest. People who love music and people who just care about the Top40 can be catered towards by very different business models.

Re: Ask HN: Industries Ripe For Disruption?

#28
post #25

Higher Education. Existing institutions are selling inefficient and grossly overpriced products in an environment in which objective evaluation is hard to obtain and the status quo fears innovation. If you could crack that nut, it would be massive.

There is another bigger one: College Book Industry. The current system is pretty inefficient. This probably differs from country to country. The current system here works like this: The universities give lists of subjects and prescribed textbooks to brick-and-mortar bookstores. They then buy the books and sell them at a huge mark-up. Students generally do not order online because of the time delay/import BS and many…

Check out chegg. They are going to / already are disrupting this market.

I think they've saved me 60% or more in the past... over the used bookstore.

Re: Ask HN: Industries Ripe For Disruption?

#29
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm hiring people in this space if anyone is looking for a job.

In the B2B space? That doesn't exactly narrow things down.

I was counting on anyone interested to click on the link to my company in my profile, which goes right to a home page focused on financial software for businesses...

Re: Ask HN: Industries Ripe For Disruption?

#30

Government. Now hear me out on this one. I think with new technology, and the push for open access to information (that's digestible) will disrupt the political system as we've known it. Doubt it will happen once things get 'back on track' financially in this country.

Its already starting. Look at sunlight labs.
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