Software startups also tend to be very product-oriented and focus on global markets. But the most successful people I know (I don't know any billionares) run service-oriented small businesses and are focused on changing the neighborhood.
Changing your own 'hood is the first step to changing the world. There's not enough being said about serving your neighbors and getting to know your regulars on a first name basis.
I feel that, in a way, I am changing my own 'hood. As an enterprise engineer, I'm trying to solve what I believe to be the most painful problem experienced by enterprise engineers - trying to figure out what caused complex systems to break down, so a fix can be formulated. This problem really sucks because it leads to a lot of yelling, finger-pointing, all-nighters, and general panic - bad social behavior that has nothing to do with the technical problem-solving we love.
So yeah, I feel I'm going after the problems of my peers, of my tribe. My 'hood, even if it's a virtual kind of 'hood.
Changing your own 'hood is the first step to changing the world. There's not enough being said about serving your neighbors and getting to know your regulars on a first name basis.