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Ask HN: How do you gain domain knowledge for unfamiliar industries?

40 points by acdanger ↗ HN
I am interested in pursuing an entrepreneurial side-project hopefully serving a business problem rather than a consumer-facing service.

I really enjoy researching different industries and learning about how systems operate, but I've found it's hard to identify specific areas of inefficiency/pain points that I could solve with software. Short of getting a job in that industry, does anyone have any methods for gaining the level of insight where they are able to confidently identify problems and begin sketching solutions?

Things I have tried so far are reading trade journals, blog posts and books, but those don't really provide the level of insight I'm hoping for.

16 comments

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pjm331
Interview people working in the industry. Ask them what their day to day looks like. Interview enough people and you'll start to spot patterns.
drenvuk
I would add that shadowing someone for a day or two while recording everything and taking notes would be better than that，and actually doing the work even moreso. A lot of the time the problems people mention are not the root cause. It should also be said that feeling the pain and looking further upstream can be more effective sometimes so more interviews along the chain might be useful.

But this is definitely something you should talk about with those directly involved.

tsguo
I love looking at post-mortem of similar businesses to learn from their mistakes. Here's an excellent example, a collection of business stories that I turn to from time to time as case studies.

https://amzn.to/2Ej18af

tabtab
Go through their trash. It's what industrial spies do.
chatmasta
The answer totally depends on the industry. For example, the methods of gaining domain knowledge in financial services will be far different from those for the construction industry.

Some advice I can give that would apply regardless, is to find a co-founder who is an industry domain expert, and preferably has spent his career working with your potential customers.

Not only will finding such a partner greatly accelerate your learning of the domain, but it will get you into sales meetings and closing deals. In many industries, if you are a solo-operator and an outsider, you will have trouble even getting into the room. This is especially true if your competition has a domain expert on the team and you do not.

wonderland83
Join a board of an association as a substitute which works close to the domain in question. There are a lot of charity organisations that can give domain knowledge.

As a member of an housing association board (co-operative apartment complex), I have learnt a great deal about property management, applicable laws and regulations, understanding offers from contractors, managing tenants, etc.

hbcondo714
I’ve attended trade shows / conferences where you get to see vendors and how they all serve that industry in their own ways. Also checkout any certifications that pertains to that industry so you may have the opportunity to learn in a structured setting.
ian0
- Talk to people, the more senior the better. Approaching someone without a product can be difficult, however if you can identify a broad goal, eg digitising a process, a new way to do x, its a start. Use it to approach executives to ask for advice. "Help a poor startup .. Im researching x", and from there dig down into specific problem areas.

- Keep an eye out for commercial problems, more-so than technical ones. Crap systems in businesses exist because the cost (in terms of work/lazyness not just $) of doing so outweighs the benefits. Its rarely a technical challenge preventing improvements.

- For large companies look at quarterly investor reports. A lot of these (in plain english) outline where they are trying to save cost or new areas they are trying to move into. See if you can help provide services that fit within their roadmap. That will get you a lot more attention.

- Let the people you are talking to understand you are an expert in technology. Don't pretend to be an expert on their industry. Let them tell you what they need and as you build knowledge see if you can productise your service into something that makes sense

justaguyhere
Ask people what they use Excel for and convert those into SaaS apps (you won't believe the things people do with Excel - I've seen Financial models running in Excel!). Even if you know nothing about an industry, this can be a quick conversation starter "do you use Excel often? what do you use it for?"

Try old school, boring, slow moving industries for low hanging fruits - manufacturing, leasing heavy equipment and even agriculture/animal raising in some cases. These have actual time saving requirements than building yet another project management application

Distant_horizon
This is an excellent idea. I see retail/apparel execs struggle through Excel all day. Considering they're creative-minded and visual learners, I'm surprised no alternative has been adopted
acdanger
Could you get a little more specific? Are they managing inventory through spreadsheets? Or looking at financials?
muzani
Get a cofounder in that field. It's hard to get 10 years of experience in something without spending 10 years in it. Whatever you learn will be shallow and subject you to Dunning Kruger effect.
LarryMade2
Ask professionals; I had an idea for some real estate listing thing, and just went to a local real estate agent to inquire how stuff works, I asked if there were issues they face which related to what I was thinking of.

Most folks are willing in giving you some basic insight into what they do. Maybe if the field is under trade secrets or one other development field would be a different story, or if you are looking to "disrupt their industry". If disruption is the goal then might be best to inquire in another far away town and say you want to do X in my town of Y... Less threatening if you are not competing in someone's competitive market.

As you learn more you will engage the people you talk to with your knowledge and as you progress you will get more help. Trying to get in depth knowledge cold-turkey would seem like a waste of time for most professionals.

jbduler
Find a connection with an investment banker (Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs), or consulting company (McKinsey, etc...). Also an investment advisor would have access to IB reports. They have great detailed industry analysis, deep analysis on companies in a given industry, their challenges...Also read the IPO filings (called S1) from the SEC (called edgar), it is free.