"How lucky I was to be running a startup company now rather than two decades ago."
In some ways, it's harder. Two or three decades ago, there was a huge software vacuum - there were obvious niches no one had filled yet. If you could build it, they would come. Now, there's something for almost every niche, no matter how obscure. Also, the price point for software is way down. People complain about $5 now, when they used to be willing to pay $95.
Yes, today anybody can do a startup. There's even "Startups for Dummies"[1] It's easy to get the component services, from hosting to credit card processing. So everybody is doing it.
Most phone apps lose money for their creators. Small ad-supported sites are much less successful than they used to be. It's worse than starting a restaurant, the previous way to spend time and money and go broke.
Yes, there are big winners, but not very many of them.
In some ways, it's harder. Two or three decades ago, there was a huge software vacuum - there were obvious niches no one had filled yet. If you could build it, they would come. Now, there's something for almost every niche, no matter how obscure. Also, the price point for software is way down. People complain about $5 now, when they used to be willing to pay $95.
Yes, today anybody can do a startup. There's even "Startups for Dummies"[1] It's easy to get the component services, from hosting to credit card processing. So everybody is doing it.
Most phone apps lose money for their creators. Small ad-supported sites are much less successful than they used to be. It's worse than starting a restaurant, the previous way to spend time and money and go broke.
Yes, there are big winners, but not very many of them.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Successful-Online-Start-Ups-For-Dummie...