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The Unexotic Underclass

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Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#81

Post by asuffield »

tinco wrote: post #76

I would really love to cater to the unexotic underclass, but how? I mean he goes on and on about how much opportunity there is, but I don't see it. I know how to get 500 white liberal suburbanite young males to pay me $10 per month. They have the money and they love to spend it on tech and gadgetry that makes their lives even more comfortable. But single house mothers? Poor Romanians? How would I even get them to pay…

Agreed. The core thing that any business has to do is make a product that people will pay for at a price that at least breaks even. You can't sell salvation to a person that doesn't have any spare cash.

This sort of thing is the role of governments, not businesses. The core problem you have in the US is that your government is one of those incumbent inefficient dinosaurs that doesn't really do much of anything useful any more but is so big that it's hard to topple.

Any solutions to the problems discussed in this article is inevitably going to look like politics, not business. This is a problem because in the US, it's "cool" to say "pfft, politics, it's awful why bother?" which means that competent people are driven into business instead.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#82

Post by Nursie »

callmeed wrote: post #62

To those who commented on the financial or regulatory hurdles in serving these people: Maybe another way to look at this is: instead of creating a startup to serve veterans or single mothers–why not create a startup that can employ veterans AND single mothers ? One of the biggest problems facing single mothers is the high cost of childcare. In many instances, it makes going to work almost pointless because it eats 50…

>> Maybe another way to look at this is: instead of creating a startup to serve veterans or single mothers–why not create a startup that can employ veterans AND single mothers?

I have a friend who does something similar to this. It turns out to be really hard, and not exactly hitting the exponential growth she wants despite being in the media frequently. Keeping the cash flowing is hard.

The reason the startup scene is comparatively easy is that everyone is motivated, energetic, young, very intelligent, able to work long hours, and the products can scale without needing a mirrored scaling up of staff, structure, management and materials. Aiming to employ large numbers of people is a very, very different proposition.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#83

Post by narrator »

julian_t wrote: post #65
incision wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>'Commute to work? Apply for benefits? Schedule appointments with doctors? Successfully keep those appointments? Keep tabs on kids while working/errands? A smart phone makes you better.' Spot on. Years ago, I maintained a couple of desktops in a sort of 'job center' where people could submit electronic applications for various low-end, entry-level positions. The most common issue - no email address. Second most commo…

> The most common issue - no email address. Second most common - has email, but has to take the bus to the library to check it. Absolutely. We have come to know a couple of guys, one ex-homeless, who have real troubles here. We lent one an old iPad and that, together will free wifi in coffee shops and malls, has enabled him to talk to government agencies and job centers.

These days you can buy no-name android tablets from Walmart for $44. For example: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ematic-7-Tablet-with-4GB-Memory-an...

That's cheap enough that there's no reason for a poor person NOT to have one.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#84

Post by cmollis »

asuffield wrote: post #81
tinco wrote: post #76

I would really love to cater to the unexotic underclass, but how? I mean he goes on and on about how much opportunity there is, but I don't see it. I know how to get 500 white liberal suburbanite young males to pay me $10 per month. They have the money and they love to spend it on tech and gadgetry that makes their lives even more comfortable. But single house mothers? Poor Romanians? How would I even get them to pay…

Agreed. The core thing that any business has to do is make a product that people will pay for at a price that at least breaks even. You can't sell salvation to a person that doesn't have any spare cash. This sort of thing is the role of governments, not businesses. The core problem you have in the US is that your government is one of those incumbent inefficient dinosaurs that doesn't really do much of anything useful…

absolutely true. For the poor and the elderly, the money comes from the government (as you noted). Tapping into that should be straightforward, but it must be incredibly difficult. Otherwise, it seems that VC's would have invested heavily into tapping that. I suspect that the last thing the government wants is (more) scrutiny about its business practices from the private sector.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#85

Post by rwallace »

tinco wrote: post #76

I would really love to cater to the unexotic underclass, but how? I mean he goes on and on about how much opportunity there is, but I don't see it. I know how to get 500 white liberal suburbanite young males to pay me $10 per month. They have the money and they love to spend it on tech and gadgetry that makes their lives even more comfortable. But single house mothers? Poor Romanians? How would I even get them to pay…

Fair point. Maybe the answer is, instead of trying to sell something to the poor, look for a way to enable the poor to sell a service to the rich?

I mean, two of the biggest success stories in the recent startup scene are Airbnb and Uber. What do they do? Provide a way for people who don't have much money but do have a useful asset (a spare room, a car, respectively) to make a bit of extra cash selling a service to those with disposable income.

What other opportunities along those lines are still open?

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#86

Post by vixen99 »

jcalvinowens wrote: post #10
x0x0 wrote: post #5

fta: But there’s only so much Washington can do to help out, what with government penniless and gridlocked, and its elected officials occupying a caste of selfishness, cowardice and spite, heretofore unseen in American politics. This is pure both-sides-do-it bullshit. In reality, one side recently passed an amazing transformation of health care to attempt to pull the united states -- still the world's richest large c…

> the ever declining (real) minimum wage The last 30 years of minimum wage adjusted for inflation: http://i.imgur.com/7kRykeS.png I'm not saying it shouldn't be higher, but it's actually currently higher than it was for most of the last 25 years.

As with most issues, there are costs and benefits with the minimum wage. It appears that Norway, Austria and Germany, amongst others, do not see a balance in favor of the benefits. Unsurprisingly their unemployment rates are low. Were I useless to an employer (as once I was) I would rather work for some wage (as I did) rather than exist (and get used to existing) on handouts from the wealth created by other tax payers' work.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#87

Post by walshemj »

scythe wrote: post #8

>entrepreneurs have stopped chasing and solving Big Problems What is strange to me is that people believe entrepreneurs ever solved "Big Problems". Who in history falls into this class? Thomas Edison? Alexander Graham Bell? Henry Ford? Guglielmo Marconi? Nonsense, I say. These men didn't solve the "big problems" of their era -- they didn't attack issues that were popular in the public consciousness. They were really…

Light bulbs are way safer than the previous technology of gas lighting so that would reduce the incidence of fatal fires explosions and poisoning's

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#88

Post by jonrimmer »

facepalm wrote: post #74
burgers wrote: post #29

I can sum this up so very simply. The way to make the most money is to get as close to money as possible. Hence why finance is such a lucrative career. We are seeing the obvious flaws of capitalism now that capital is no longer tied to low skill labor for manufacturing. Want to make a ton of money 1 year from today and have good credit? Spend your days with an MLS subscription finding under-priced homes to flip in a…

Where I live, many landlords prefer tenants who are on welfare. The state pays their rent, so it's practically guaranteed. So I think single mothers might be a lucrative market. Especially if you can get the foot into the door for some government contract. Another data point: I think Warren Buffet got rich with Coca Cola and chocolate bars? That's basically selling crap to the poor.

The government being a lucrative market isn't the same as single mothers being a lucrative market.

And yes, you can make money from an underclass by exploiting people's weaknesses for sugar, fast food, gambling, alcohol, drugs etc. But then you're not solving their problems, you're adding to them.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#89

Post by wolfgke »

tinco wrote: post #76

I would really love to cater to the unexotic underclass, but how? I mean he goes on and on about how much opportunity there is, but I don't see it. I know how to get 500 white liberal suburbanite young males to pay me $10 per month. They have the money and they love to spend it on tech and gadgetry that makes their lives even more comfortable. But single house mothers? Poor Romanians? How would I even get them to pay…

> I imagine them needing to spend money on food,

accepted

> education,

There is so much educational stuff available on the internet and public libraries that I can't see a reason why there is a lot money to spend on.

> housing

Accepted

> and entertainment.

May I tell you something: As a graduate student I have so much work to do that I hardly have any time for entertainment. Thus rather little money is spent on it. Could this be a hint for curbing the expenses for this kind of people?

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#90

Post by gambiting »

tinco wrote: post #76

I would really love to cater to the unexotic underclass, but how? I mean he goes on and on about how much opportunity there is, but I don't see it. I know how to get 500 white liberal suburbanite young males to pay me $10 per month. They have the money and they love to spend it on tech and gadgetry that makes their lives even more comfortable. But single house mothers? Poor Romanians? How would I even get them to pay…

You don't get the money from them, that's the point. You build a system that helps them,and then sell it to the government or any organisation which has the money to pay for it. You get your money, and they get the help they need.
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