IRL a coffee shop is a pretty simple, basic business that anyone can start. You need to rent a place, buy equipment and supplies, hire staff. Then, in theory, it “just works”.
What are the parallel businesses in online/tech? You don’t need to develop self-driving AI or a teleporter, it “just works” - and there’s still a space for you against big incumbents (Starbucks). Is this even possible anymore?
What is not mentioned in that perrygroup article is the presence of the landlord. The stories of these long running family restaurants with good food etc are OWNED by the family.
Sooner or later almost all properties fall into the hand of landlords whose function is rent maximization. No long lasting family restaurants here - landlords ramp up the rent until they break. This leads to high intensity food-fraud businesses like St<i>rbucks. I say food fraud when costco sells a can of cok for 22 cents with the can, how much does the same coke in a plastic cup cost at a food fraud? $1.50-$2.50.
The rise of these specialty food frauds who buy all their stuff at the deepest wholesale discount and sell at stratospheric prices and cross subsidize new locations in paramount locations by other store profits. I never buy a thing from St</i>rbucks - the scrape of the gouge is too deep to bear...
You may want to rethink the assumption that coffee shops/restaurants “just work”. Like tech startups, many restaurants don’t last long. Here’s and older study on restaurants: <a href="https://www.perrygroup.com/foodservice-expert-overview-on-how-long-restaurants-last/" rel="nofollow">https://www.perrygroup.com/foodservice-expert-overview-on-ho...</a>.
I don't think those are separate categories at all, it's simply a tool. Modern companies are also internet companies.<p>That coffee shop over there? On the internet. Order something at PizzaHut? Over the internet. Want to move some sand? All on the internet.