
Ask HN: How to learn about problems of other industries? - techsin101
There are 100s of businesses, I&#x27;m only familiar with the one I&#x27;m in. For ideas, i need to know about problems that exist then to brainstorm and analyze. But I can&#x27;t do that if i have no idea what&#x27;s happening. So how can I learn about more industries. Go To businesses and ask them to let me sit there for no reason?
======
caseymarquis
Work at a B2B services firm for a while. You'll get exposure to hundreds of
businesses over a few years.

I've seen industry outsiders solve a nonexistent problem, or fail to solve an
existing problem without realizing it, or solve a non-generalized version of a
problem that only applies to one company, or solve a problem excel solves
better, or solve a problem which was just a bad (now permanent) process. The
list goes on.

However it happens, you greatly increase your chances of providing a valuable
piece of software if you have exposure to not just a single business in an
industry, but dozens of them.

~~~
techsin101
what roles are best. I worked as dev once for b2b, never got to meet anyone
but the kanban board.

~~~
caseymarquis
Technical sales, project management, or engineering services. These are often
combined. You want something that puts you on the ground with the customer.
They'll start asking you for technology/software advice if they like you. It
helps if you like traveling.

Alternately, instead of starting a new career, you could ask friends and
family for an introduction where they work and just go with your original idea
of shadowing people. Most SMB owners I know would be happy to let a software
developer analyze their process and brainstorm about useful software. Just
give them a perpetual free license for helping you develop it. They might even
be interested in helping you bootstrap it. Business owners are often looking
for a good investment.

------
johnrgrace
Read their industry trade publications and go to their trade shows, that is
the fastest way to understand some of the problems and industry is facing.
There will be other problems an industry is facing that don't surface in those
areas, the problems being discussed are the easiest ones to sell a solution.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
I'll add to this that most business domains have online presence. Find the
forums where the people discuss their business problems online and lurk there.

------
greenyoda
If you decide to approach people to find out about their business problems,
they'll take you much more seriously if you already have some knowledge of
their industry. They're not going to have confidence that you can solve (or
even understand) their problems if you don't know the first thing about what
they do.

I'd guess that every industry has its own specialized news sites (something
like TechCrunch.com, but for bankers or civil engineers). You could try
finding some of these on the web and reading them. You can also learn a lot
about different industries by reading a good business paper, like the WSJ or
the business section of the NY Times. There are also locally oriented news
sources, like Crain’s New York Business.

~~~
mattmanser
A lot of industries still have trade magazines.

I've not been consulting for big business for a while, but often if you went
into a large organization they'll have a copy of trade magazines related to
their field(s) in their reception.

A quick google shows there's still lots of trade magazines in print, so I
assume it hasn't all migrated online because of their specialization.

------
JSeymourATL
Attend Trade Shows -- I've found them target rich environments of people who
are disposed to talking about what they're working. Nothing beats the live in-
person conversation. > [https://www.thetradeshownetwork.com/tradeshow-
calendar](https://www.thetradeshownetwork.com/tradeshow-calendar)

------
Bucephalus355
Gale, part of Cengage, probably makes the best reference books that cover
various industries in a single volume. This is the fastest way to learn and
certainly the most agile. Wish I had a better link, but you should be able to
find some via your local library or elsewhere besides Amazon:
[https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Global-Industries-
Gale/d...](https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Global-Industries-
Gale/dp/1414435029)

~~~
techsin101
thanks

------
roystonvassey
Work as a consultant. As a management/IT/data/process consultant - it doesn't
matter. You'll soon learn to ask the right questions of your customers and
figure out different problems they face. It is a nuanced skill but can go a
long way in learning how to find and solve real business problems.

------
mcdramamean
Why don't you solve this problem? The problem of learning about other
industries. I'm sure other people have the same issue. Maybe create a vlog and
document your journey?

~~~
techsin101
i thought about creating a video series on youtube where i go and document
businesses day to day life.

other thing was to create website for open source business processes. For
example you wanted to start a laundry business, you could just come to website
and view best ways to do things. Like check lists and flow charts for all
matters: accountability, customer service, repairs, monthly check ups.... this
would put individual owned businesses on par with international chain
businesses. they are constantly iterating and testing to improve. individually
owned businesses are too busy to work on business sometimes. in doing this
businesses would expose inefficiencies through their documented process and
reveal opportunities for ideas.

------
JamesBarney
The easiest thing to do is rely on friends in certain industries. They'll be
able to give you an in depth overview of the field as well as introduce you to
other people who work in it.

------
quickthrower2
No direct experience, but I’d try consulting or freelancing first. That’ll get
you closer to other people’s problems but while still staying technical.

