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March 16, 2005
The long tail of software. Millions of Markets of Dozens.
Some choice quotes from Joe Krauss latest blog entry.
First, every business has multiple processes. Things like hiring, firing, selling, ordering, etc. Second, while some of these are pretty common in name from business to business (recruiting, for example), in practice, they are usually highly customized.
Said another way, there is a long tail of very custom process problems that software is supposed to help businesses solve.
The market doesnt like a vacuum and people do solve their software needs in the long tail. They do it using two basic tools: Microsoft Excel and email.
Whatever business your starting, think about how to serve millions of markets of dozens instead of dozens of markets of millions. Serving the head isnt a bad strategy. You can build a great business. But, figure out how to serve the tail of your market efficiently and youve got a blockbuster.
Not sure if he strategically chose that last word or not, but if should read "and you've got a Netflix"
Posted by mikel at March 16, 2005 03:55 PM
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