Remarks to Software Forum Dinner Meeting (1997)
4 comments
·January 17, 2025null
twic
> Being the world expert is vitally important to meeting the new product criteria I’ll discuss in a moment. If you aren’t the world expert, you’re just kidding yourself about your chances for success.
This is interesting. Makes sense. But it's absolutely not part of the modern theory of startups, is it?
kragen
If you don't have either investors (he's talking about bootstrapping) or world-class expertise, it's going to be pretty hard to launch a successful startup. You may be thinking of venture-funded startups, but he's not.
turnsout
Man, so much of this still rings true today. Focusing on the niche where you're an expert; solving a single problem 10X better than the alternative; bootstrapping; focusing on profitability; the importance of focus.