That is a very interesting opinion piece.
As I was A2A, please indulge me a moment to share my counterpoint.
I do not believe startups are failing anyone. The very notion that people somehow are entitled to dictate the types of things that are created by others frankly strikes me as distasteful.
I spend the majority of my time working with people at various stage of the business lifecycle.
I have worked with and know many who are at the idea phase, and are determining if they will be a startup, small business, nonprofit, etc –
I know many past that phase who are executing on their project.
And I have dealt with many who have exited their projects, on happy or solemn terms.
The article is correct in saying that they all had something in common: they solved a problem or filled a need that they understood personally; my argument for that would be “What else would they do? Make something up?”
These are people of all ages, all walks of life. These are products and businesses that appeal to things big and small – but you don’t see them because they don’t get to page 1 on Google or number 1 in the App Store (the horror – many don’t even create an App!)
Most startups and businesses don’t get outside funding, ever.
I agree that there are markets underserved by the iOS fascination. Here’s an interview where I talk about things like FirefoxOS and feature phones:
However – I think startups and entrepreneurs are the future of global employment. Already, startups and small businesses make up the majority employing power of the U.S. Workforce.
Widen your scope beyond the App Store and pay attention to the things that people actually are creating out there.
Originally Posted: https://www.quora.com/Are-Startups-really-failing-us
Originally Posted On: 2015-04-28