Mike Stopforth

Thanks to Neville’s Muti link I’ve just picked up on a very intriguing post by Y Combinator, the seed-funding venture firm built around Web 2.0 startups, talking about ideas they’d invest in.

Being a bit of an entrepreneur myself I was immediately drawn to the post, and a couple of things surprised me…

1. First of all, there are no whizz-bangingly brilliant ideas there. They’re all pretty logical and simple and speak to needs that are clearly obvious in the Web space. The moral? You don’t need a great idea to start a company - you need a good team and great execution.
2. I was surprised at how enthusiastic Y Combinator are about so-called Enterprise 2.0 offerings - or maybe I’m surprised at how critical they are of existing ERP vendors. Being a great believer in Enterprise 2.0 I have no doubts about the potential for Web 2.0-like applications to make an enormous impact behind the firewall, but have not always felt like I’ve been heard. I must say though a presentation I saw by a Cisco exec about their plans for Enterprise 2.0 was very encouraging indeed. I’m not sure enough young entrepreneurs, certainly in South Africa, are looking to direct their efforts at this lucrative space.
3. According to Y Combinator, there is still space for dating and photo and video sharing sites. I must confess I thought this had been done. To death. Coming in to the market to compete against YouTube now, unless you do a game-changing Seesmic (which has yet to prove itself), seems ludicrous. What say you?
4. Y Combinator feel the same way as I do about Wikipedia, that it’s turned into a deletionist’s playground. I never thought I’d say this but Wikipedia needs to be more open. Or needs an open alternative. Crazy, but true.
5. Lastly, there’s nothing about location-based services in there. I think location is going to be big. I don’t know the technical ins and outs, I just know that my Web interests are shifting from what you’re doing to what you’re doing and where you’re doing it.

Your thoughts on the list?

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• 7 Things The Dave Matthews Band Has Taught Me About Startups