Thanks for your comments, everyone. I'll start following up on specific comments shortly, but some general thoughts:
My reasons for wanting to go for a new business have to do with the calcified nature of the development process; now that I've "seen the elephant" in this side of the business it's all much less interesting, and it won't get better just by changing my employer. It won't get better by going indie, even. I want to go beyond shipping products and find the next level - the franchise, the organization, whatever term might apply.
So in that sense I'm not worried about the product idea, just the process - the potential of changing and improving it. That's where I think the startup world has something to offer.
My reasons for wanting to go for a new business have to do with the calcified nature of the development process; now that I've "seen the elephant" in this side of the business it's all much less interesting, and it won't get better just by changing my employer. It won't get better by going indie, even. I want to go beyond shipping products and find the next level - the franchise, the organization, whatever term might apply.
So in that sense I'm not worried about the product idea, just the process - the potential of changing and improving it. That's where I think the startup world has something to offer.