unscalable business? The web 2.0 perspective

[kensuguro]

I'm neck deep in the web 2.0 / social gaming industry and wanted to point out some funny things. The best of them all is this.
1. brick and mortar is unscalable (to them it means unprofitable)
2. everything has to be scalable.

Now let's look at the numbers. 80-90% of startups faill without making a single penny of profit. So, they're scalable but to a large degree, unprofitable. Yet every day, I see kids selling candy on the subway. They sell it for a dollar or two.. but definitely get it for less. PROFIT. Scalable? No, but a valid business? YES.

It's just funny to see the book heads go for the millions and get nothing (end up millions in the red), while the diligent worker makes a few bucks. Sure, not millions, but still some hard earned money. So what's scalable? What's profitable? I really see some irony in the web 2.0 / make $1 from 3 million people and become a millionaire mentality.

For me, I'm starting a knife sharpening service as a hobby. $10 for a chef's knife, sharpened with techniques that I learned from my grandpa in Japan who was a shrine carpenter (top tier carpenter). It's $10 per trade, with physical goods being worked on, and serious skills used for service. I think as long as humans live in the physical realm, physical economy will be strong.

[garyb]

i hope so.

real skills are the thing. you should never starve.

[valis]

It's just funny to see the book heads go for the millions and get nothing (end up millions in the red),

I wonder whose money the are playing with though...?

[Nestor]

Selling your mp3 music versus gigs for instance.

[kensuguro]

They money usually come from investors.

[garyb]

oh, other people's money.

well that's the best scalability.

[dawman]

But don't follow the Government models in Europe, or the USA.

"Eventually you run out of other people's money to spend" .......

Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady as Margeret Thatcher
MGM/United Artists 2012