I think that great startups make you go, "wow. that's much better than the old way." Having spent a decent chunk of my undergraduate education (electrical engineering at the UW) looking up datasheets for electronics components, I have to say that this is 100 times better than Googling.
http://octopart.com
I don't think most people will get it. After all you need to know you're looking for an LM348N chip. But you're immersed in that world, then its a perfect startup. They should be wildly successful if they can figure out how to market their product.
That's an easy one to strategize: It's not simply a matter of just pointing people to the big suppliers but more about putting buyers and sellers together. While eBay has been losing business over the past year, more specialized sites are popping up all over the place that focus on vertical niches rather than the broad base that eBay has owned for so long.
Frugal Mechanic recently got funding from Andy Sack and the guys over at Founders Co-Op. They broker automotive parts between Sellers and the do-it-yourself mechanics. It's a niche - but it's a $40 billion niche. I would suspect that the electronic components market - especially among hobbyists and geeks - isn't too shabby either!
Posted by: robertinseattle | February 15, 2009 at 04:27 PM