

Ask HN: Is being known for having domain expertise important for entrepreneurs? - richardmoh

I recently had was in an event for budding entrepreneurs. Mostly are still new to entrepreneurship.<p>As investors look into the team composition in terms of what the team could bring to the game, is it important for the founding team members to establish some rapport as experts&#x2F;well versed in their own domains?
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brandonb
Depends on what you're doing.

For most consumer products, it's less about domain expertise and more about
capturing "lighting in a bottle." The founders of YouTube weren't necessarily
video experts and the founders of Instragram weren't necessarily photos
experts, but when their products started to grow quickly it was clear they had
done something right.

For areas like healthcare, nuclear energy, artificial intelligence, biotech,
and many areas of the enterprise, being a domain expert (or acquiring domain
expertise) is essential. Often, it requires money to even get the product to
the point where it can be launched, and so the only way to establish
credibility is through the team.

In any case, you don't have to be an expert in entrepreneurship--you can
generally learn business as you go along.

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jasonparallel
Totally agree. Our products target market consists of experts in the relevant
domain. Without having someone that can talk shop and show efficiency gains
for real scenarios, I feel like we would be shown the door.

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Avalaxy
I think for freelancers it's very important. I built a couple of Bitcoin apps
for well-funded Bitcoin companies, so next time I go to an event, I only have
to walk up to some people and show then what I built. That's normally enough
for them to hire me.

I'm not sure about entrepreneurs who don't do any contract work, but I think
the domain expertise will really give you an edge there because you are much
better at determining what problems should be solved in the domain, what
solutions there currently are and what potential customers want.

