Thread by @pkedrosky

Back when I was hanging at @KauffmanFDN writing things and making mouth noises I used to argue that some of the best markets for young companies weren't new ones, but existing ones where you can make it non-viable for incumbents. #xp

There are a bunch of reasons for this, not least of which is that when you make a financial ecology difficult, it changes the predation game, sometimes in your favor as a new company that can price or do things very differently. #xp

But the other reason isn't said enough, that it's _good_ when people are already spending gazillions on things, because then you don't have to convince them to spend more on something new. People and companies don't like to do that. #xp

You just want to say, Take some of what you're spending here, and spend it here instead. No new spending required. Or, take what you used to spend here, and weren't satisfied, and spend it here instead. That can work too. #xp

Most companies, like people, don't have a pool of Money I'd Like To Spend But Haven't Because I'm Waiting For A Company To Come Along And Ask For It. Sure, it happens, but don't bank on it. Bank instead on convincing them to change where they're spending, not spend more. #xp

This is among the reasons I'm very down on newsletters and podcast subscriptions. Out of what pocket do hope-filled purveyors of such things imagine that subscription revenues will come from? I know I'm not sitting around thinking I WISH I COULD SUBSCRIBE TO MORE THINGS. #xp

Now, I am sitting around thinking I wish there was Thing X that could do a better of Y than Thing Z, on which I'm spending more than it's worth or whatever. That is a daily thing. But that's different from me spending more, just because it's somehow good for you. #xp

So, a good starting point is, Would I subscribe to this? Am I subscribing to this under a different name? Would I stop paying for that and pay for this? Am I a complete weirdo, or are there others like me? The grail quest for new spending is generally doomed. #xp

Postscript: There are, of course, exceptions, and many of them. Among my favorites is meditation apps, which have exploded into a billion-dollar category. What were people doing before with that money? Lighting it on fire to heat the house? One wonders.