@James Franklin - I’m not sure it’s true there is less room for “killer apps” - they just haven’t been thought of yet! That said, I definitely agree that there is plenty of room for more niche apps. And as Ryan points out, with EC2/S3 etc. it’s getting easier to do.

Combine that with consumers and businesses embracing all this in growing numbers, you can see how specialising in niches is the obvious way to cope with a growing and increasingly crowded marketplace.

When you start to really think about the potential for home grown, local, niche apps that solve real problems (not just ones for web designers) for specific groups of people I’m tempted to say that actually that is where the big money is. Not hugely funded valley start ups, but as you correctly point out, in small teams. Potentially the market for niche web apps will massively exceed our expectations and we’ll be busy building apps for teachers and farmers.

However, having said all that - I’m going to contradict myself. Because I think that in the future the winners will be not the apps that get into TechCrunch etc but the ones that can market themselves effectively in their niche, which is a completely new set of skills. And that is where having a VC sat on your board can really help, bring new skills to the table - business, finance and marketing experience. Still, there’s plenty of easier ways to go about getting that…

Life is not just about money.. building a business and selling it for squillions of dollars might make you rich, but happiness is very different.

I love money, but I also love time with my family, my cats and lounging about on the sofa watching telly… the point is I have everything I need… yes I want a fast car, a bigger house and new pants everyday.. (maybe). but who really wants 1 billion dollars?

I run a design agency with my wife and make a very good living. I don’t want to expand, I am happy to stay very small and use this as an advantage for my clients. As Ryan mentioned smaller companies are leaner and faster and better at many things. I can do stuff fast.. like “this afternoon fast” and thats what my clients want. I could grow and have a £1 million turnover, but do I want it? NO thats the answer!

I can make £120K a year as I am and be very happy. If that suddenly drops to £30K because of the so called credit crunch then so be it.. at least I won’t have to lay off staff, or sell my house..

A comfortable living is the best and something that should be advocated rather than this greed for all things money!

Now I know that I am obviously not a web app.. but the same principles apply.. if you look at small local industrial estates (especially in the UK) there are people making hundreds of thousands of pounds a year and they never even use the internet..! Imagine that! A world without Internet! Yet they make a great living making widgets, or selling machinery or doing xyz.. I think this is in a strange way…the future.. Local, small and agile.. something that the internet is forgetting. The average person making money because they are doing something somebody needs, and not talking bullshit just to get rich.

We did apply to WebMission but didn’t get on, however my main reason for wanting to go was to increase PR etc rather than get out to Silicon Valley

I agree with you, entrepreneur in the US is a much cleaner word than over here and it is harder to get acceptance and be respected for success. Having said that though, sometimes in the US you can be respected for success no matter how you got there. That is one thing I do not want replicated here.

Making it easier for people to do great things and helping them along morally, financially and physically is not something that is as good here as it is in the US in the tech sector. I have lived in both and while the UK is getting better every day, it still lags behind tremendously so I do agree with you on that.

Ryan Gallagher.

I actually moved to London (from Sydney) to pursue my web app/start-up… so I don’t know if that puts me on the ‘good’ side of building the scene in London…or on the ‘bad’ scene for abandoning Sydney’s!

We have been building and boot-strapping Vitalist for about a year and a half now and would not have it any other way.

Great post.