8:16How New Technology Creates New Businesses
From Y Combinator · Published Jul 20, 2024 · Watch on YouTube
TL;DR
New powerful technologies (e.g., the internet, cloud computing, iPhone, AI) repeatedly create windows where early adopters who understand the new tools can start businesses with dramatically lower costs (up to 10x reduction). These opportunities span from side hustles to billion-dollar companies.
Key insights
- Historical precedents: high school kids made “tons of money” building basic websites; eBay arbitrageurs bought cheap and resold; Flappy Bird’s creator earned ~$20M in two months after the iPhone launc
- New tools reduce the cost of starting a business by up to 10x, making previously infeasible or expensive business models accessible to normal people.
- Early movers on platforms (eBay, Airbnb, Shopify, Whatnot, Twitch) gained outsized leverage and built real businesses.
Want the full analysis - every claim cited to the second it was said?
This page only shows a teaser. Sign up to chat with the complete, cited breakdown of "How New Technology Creates New Businesses".