The Missing Domain

What I lack is a Customer Domain.

I have a Technology Domain. I have studied data systems for a long time, and I understand relatively well what can be built and what is technically difficult.

But I still do not have a clear view of whose problems that technology connects to. More precisely, the customers naturally connected to the technology I have studied deeply are difficult for me to see.

Databases and AI infrastructure usually remain hidden beneath products. The public does not see or buy them directly. They use the products built on top of them.

This creates a long distance between technology and the customer. Bridging that distance requires not only a product, but also data, computing resources, capital, distribution, and existing customers. This may be one reason the technology I study is most often brought into the world through big technology companies.

This may be a trade-off.

The deeper and more difficult a technology is, the fewer people can work with it. Organizations with sufficient scale pay highly for that scarce capability. Within such an organization, I can focus more deeply on technology, but I may have fewer opportunities to confront directly who ultimately needs it and why.

Being highly compensated and understanding a Customer Domain may not come from the same ability. The former is the reward for understanding scarce technology deeply. The latter is more often the result of observing, over time, the problems, behavior, and willingness to pay of a particular group of people.

This does not mean that one matters more than the other. They are abilities acquired in different worlds.

Customer     Why is it needed?
Product      What does it provide?
Technology   How is it built?

I have spent a long time pursuing the last question. But knowing what is technically possible does not necessarily tell me which opportunity to choose. Technology makes many things possible, but which of them becomes real value is decided in the customer’s reality.

If I want to recognize more opportunities and become capable of creating greater value, a Technology Domain alone may not be enough. I need to step outside technology and understand the problems and desires of a particular group of people, how they behave, and how their money flows.