After fairly bad review about Tumblr's availability [1] this was something they needed to write. They had (and still have) pretty big challenges. It's not easy to scale something like that and this article confirms that.
This guys are a great example of how to create a startup and get funding in countries like Croatia where the access to VC/angel money is limited. To start globally (when you are outside of US) is much harder then many think.
My small business has always been global and now I am starting to look at expanding quite quickly. Now I am in a position where I may even be able to execute some ideas that might be of interest to investors.
The question of whether to go global at first is really a very hard question. I think it absolutely depends on the business. Many businesses would benefit by starting locally and working closely with customers at first before going global. Many other businesses would benefit by going global right away. Making the right decision here is sort of tricky.
Now, one thing to note is that this isn't an all or nothing question either. A smart business will globalize where it makes sense and localize where that makes sense. For example, if I am going to go and provide (or send someone to provide) training, I am not going to send someone half-way around the world for a short-term training contract. On the other hand, sponsored development on LedgerSMB is easily global. Payroll subscription services will naturally be a series of local offerings, while technical support for PostgreSQL can be more easily a global one.
The success of WhoAPI and the like is really helping the situation improve. There are a lot of great developers and motivated people here, a huge potential.
Starting a lifestyle business will for sure take you a lot of energy in the coming years. There will be time when you want to give up. In those hard times things are easier if you are doing what you love.
I think that choosing a niche is better if you are solving a problem in the area you have a knowledge. That could be your big asset [1].
What are your hobbies? What do you like to do?
Many niches are very saturated. That doesn't mean you should give up. If you have something that your competition didn't solve good (or at all) there is a place for you. Your competency in certain area will help you beat them. Even if you take a small fraction of their pie, probably it should be enough for your lifestyle business.
OTOH, if you are looking for non-saturated market and find it, you can ask yourself is there any money in that market? Is it worthwhile?
You can find it is, but do you like that market? Do you know anything about it?
My point here is do what you love and money will come after years of hard work.
"do what you love and money will come after years of hard work"
I think you would increase your chances of success dramatically if you would just look to solve problems rather than trying to do something that you love.
You would have a bigger variety of options (you can't LOVE doing everything), and you will feel less guilty when it is time to ditch an idea for another one.
Yes I agree with that. I used to develop Facebook games. I was making money but I lost interest because I felt I was wasting people's time. Since then I have decided to only work on "useful" applications.
Got my first mail. It's great! Nice job.
Only one thing: it will be good that links in the mail open some preview page where you click on "Connect" button. Didn't expect CCing on link click.
