I had a shortform post pointing out the recent big jump in new businesses in the US, and Gwern replied:
How sure are you that the composition is interesting? How many of these are just quick mask-makers or sanitizer-makers, or just replacing restaurants that have now gone out of business? (ie very low-value-added companies, of the ‘making fast food in a stall in a Third World country’ sort of ‘startup’, which make essentially no or negative long-term contributions).
This was a good question in context, but I disagree with Gwern’s model of where-progress-comes-from, especially in the context of small businesses.
Let’s talk ice-cream cones.
As the story goes, an ice-cream vendor was next door to a waffle vendor at the 1904 World’s Fair. At some point, the ice-cream vendor ran short on paper cups, and inspiration struck. He bought some thin waffles from the waffle vendor, rolled them into cones, and ice-cream cones took off.
That’s just the first step. From there, the cone spread memetically. People heard about it, and either asked for cones (on the consumer side) or tried making them (on the supplier side).
Insight + Memetics → Better Food
When I compare food today to the stuff my grandparents ate, there’s no comparison. Today’s dishes are head and shoulders better. Partly it’s insights like ice-cream cones, partly it’s memetic spread of dishes from more parts of the world (like sisig, soup dumplings, ropa vieja, chicken Karahi, …).
Those little fast-food stalls? They’re powerhouses of progress. It’s a hypercompetitive market, with low barriers to entry, and lots of repeat business. The conditions are ideal for trying out new dishes, spreading culinary ideas and finding out the hard way what people like to eat. That doesn’t mean they’re highly profitable—culinary innovation spreads memetically, so it’s hard to capture the gains. But progress is made.
The pandemic also has the effect of showing the kind of business ideas people try. It pushes a lot of innovation in food delivery. Some of the pandemic driver innovation will become worthless once the pandemic is over but a few good ideas likely survive and the old ideas of the businesses that went out of business are still around.
I had a shortform post pointing out the recent big jump in new businesses in the US, and Gwern replied:
This was a good question in context, but I disagree with Gwern’s model of where-progress-comes-from, especially in the context of small businesses.
Let’s talk ice-cream cones.
As the story goes, an ice-cream vendor was next door to a waffle vendor at the 1904 World’s Fair. At some point, the ice-cream vendor ran short on paper cups, and inspiration struck. He bought some thin waffles from the waffle vendor, rolled them into cones, and ice-cream cones took off.
That’s just the first step. From there, the cone spread memetically. People heard about it, and either asked for cones (on the consumer side) or tried making them (on the supplier side).
Insight + Memetics → Better Food
When I compare food today to the stuff my grandparents ate, there’s no comparison. Today’s dishes are head and shoulders better. Partly it’s insights like ice-cream cones, partly it’s memetic spread of dishes from more parts of the world (like sisig, soup dumplings, ropa vieja, chicken Karahi, …).
Those little fast-food stalls? They’re powerhouses of progress. It’s a hypercompetitive market, with low barriers to entry, and lots of repeat business. The conditions are ideal for trying out new dishes, spreading culinary ideas and finding out the hard way what people like to eat. That doesn’t mean they’re highly profitable—culinary innovation spreads memetically, so it’s hard to capture the gains. But progress is made.
The pandemic also has the effect of showing the kind of business ideas people try. It pushes a lot of innovation in food delivery. Some of the pandemic driver innovation will become worthless once the pandemic is over but a few good ideas likely survive and the old ideas of the businesses that went out of business are still around.