[sp_]

The first one was definitely a mantra of the Google-acquired start-up I used to work for. My boss was unhappy with existing software in our field of expertise, so we set out to build something that makes us happy, not other people. It helped that we (especially my boss) knew more about the field than nearly all of our customers, so our customers bandwaggoning on our software was not surprising to me.

[ericd]

Yeah, I've witnessed the first one succeed wonderfully, and it's exactly what you're talking about - they built exactly what they envisioned because they were frustrated with existing solutions, and the customers came in droves.

[JoeAltmaier]

Yes, building what you know is right is satisfying, but can be a hard road. You have to educate at every level.

Ask a farmer in 1900 what he wanted, he would have said "A stronger horse that eats less oats". Never would he have said "a tractor".