I was thinking the same thing. If we all took his advice and went for the big markets, we would all be selling consumer goods and getting crushed by WalMart. Niche markets are awesome because here, we can win.
For my money, organized crime has more in common with big box retailers than startups, because the amount of cash on hand you require (not to mention the infrastructure) is a pretty nasty barrier to entry. The market is dominated by a few key players and focus is on sustainable growth. Startups are about rapid growth and disrupting established industries by artificially lowering the barriers to entry.
Are they? What did Facebook disrupt? What did Highrise disrupt? What did google disrupt (in search)? Some technologies are disruptive, some aren't. Many are just a little bit better and that snowballs into a large advantage over time, especially in winner take all markets. Just because a company is huge doesn't mean it's disruptive.
Walmart started as one store, don't believe you can't compete with them, I see mom and pop shops sell products in the same categories as Walmart and win.
For my money, organized crime has more in common with big box retailers than startups, because the amount of cash on hand you require (not to mention the infrastructure) is a pretty nasty barrier to entry. The market is dominated by a few key players and focus is on sustainable growth. Startups are about rapid growth and disrupting established industries by artificially lowering the barriers to entry.