The future of web startups

**duncan drennan** · 08-Oct-07, 08:35 AM

Paul Graham recently posted a really good essay on web startups, but there are some quotes which stood out for me, which I want to highlight.

The premise of the essay is that startups become cheaper and easier to begin (due to the web) there will be a dramatic increase in the number of startups.

We now think of it as normal to have a job at a company, but this is the the thinnest of historical veneers. Just two or three lifetimes ago, most people in what are now called industrialized countries lived by farming. So while it may seem surprising to propose that large numbers of people will change the way they make a living, it would be more surprising if they didn't.

We in the technology world are used to that sort of solution: you don't beat the incumbents; you redefine the problem to make them irrelevant.

What students do in their classes will change too. Instead of trying to get good grades to impress future employers, students will try to learn things. We're talking about some pretty dramatic changes here.

**Chatmaster** · 08-Oct-07, 10:28 AM

This was a very interesting read thanks for sharing Duncan.

I think one of the most interesting facts of the Internet is the speed at which it changes it's possibilities. Also if you look at the startup costs of a landbased business it is still relatively cheap to start an internet business. We have a bright feature ahead of us, that will include many changes and new initiatives. The youth of today has a very bright future ahead of them because they will make the changes and bring new ideas into the world of the Internet.

**Dave A** · 08-Oct-07, 10:58 AM

The trouble with low entry levels is inevitably you end up in a saturated market and everyone starts making no money. Well, not quite everyone - a few manage to buck the mean average. But you tend to get a heck of a lot of survivalists.