PR for People Monthly AUGUST 2015 | Page 17

The meme generation

Entrepreneurs must beware of falling into the trap of the current meme. Four years ago, VCs were looking for the next Facebook. Before that, it was the next Google. Of late it’s been the next Instagram, Snap Chat, Salesforce, Uber, Dropbox — you name it. Analytics and “big data” also continue as hot categories.

But how many “next Facebooks” have emerged? In some areas, the market has tolerated, even encouraged, alternatives within the category. Cloud storage has flourished as many players took file backup services and combined them with storage and collaborative tools. Dropbox cleared the path for Cubby, Box, SpiderOak, JustCloud, Crashplan, and a host of others, serving the widespread demand for storage and collaboration. The scale is worldwide, the opportunity is rife.

But is storage with collaborative service a hot topic in the tech trade press? Hardly! The aforementioned LODE is still the adored shiny object. Yes, delivery services are the current fetish, the meme of the moment. But what are the exit paths for these location based delivery services? With the exception of Uber, how many of the LODE companies enjoy skyrocket valuations, or have been acquired or cashed out for mega-dollars?

The startup fetish economy (SUFE?) can be a diversion. Efforts in areas the tech trade press finds less attractive may generate a bigger reward. Aerospace and biotech have untold millions under investment. Medical supplies and inventions have resulted in tremendous exits. But how many in the tech business press have these areas in their focus?

There is limited opportunity in categories where every Tom, Dick and Jennifer are playing in the same sandbox that the VCs seem obsessed with. Better to put one’s creative and entrepreneurial abilities in areas of greater opportunity and economic reward.

A follow-the-leader startup (in Brooklyn or Oakland, of course) is on a risky journey. The entrepreneur who foregoes cachet and pursues a new path with a definite user base is likely to be happier, and better-rewarded, in the long run.

Dean Landsman is principal of Landsman Communications Group, based in New York City.

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