Re:Ask HN: Starting my own hosting company, any advice?
by bcx on Monday June 21, 2010 @10:47AM
(#1448954)
I ran a hosting company on the side for about 10 years before starting http://www.Olark.com. Basically, hosting is pretty much a commodity right now, and big companies are willing to spend upwards of $100 to acquire a single virtual hosting customer.
Here's what I would avoid:
1) competing on price
2) building a commodity
If you focus on customer service, you won't fail your customers, your product can be mediocre i.e. (http://www.tiptopwebsite.com) and with the right connection to your customers you can still make money.
If I was going to start a new hosting company today. My cheapest plan would be $25 a month. I'd shoot for superb service, and try to find a really wealthy under-served part of the market to focus on. I'd try to build something that was unique, i.e. not a commodity. (That said, as an executive in a webhosting company, you probably know how tough it is to compete in webhosting)
Here's what I would avoid:
1) competing on price
2) building a commodity
If you focus on customer service, you won't fail your customers, your product can be mediocre i.e. (http://www.tiptopwebsite.com) and with the right connection to your customers you can still make money.
If I was going to start a new hosting company today. My cheapest plan would be $25 a month. I'd shoot for superb service, and try to find a really wealthy under-served part of the market to focus on. I'd try to build something that was unique, i.e. not a commodity. (That said, as an executive in a webhosting company, you probably know how tough it is to compete in webhosting)
Good luck!