The "problem" with optimization software is that the fun optimization algorithms part is just 1% of the work. The software also needs to be complete enough to handle most of the everyday workflow of most employees at the users' company, or provide integrations to any other software that they use daily (from Excel to a custom calendaring system built by the founder's son 15 years ago).
Some friends are working on a courier dispatching system, which includes very clever optimization for choosing trucks and mapping routes. But most of the effort goes into making sure that the mobile app works on 5-year-old smartphones, and the fonts on the PDF invoices look right, and so on.
If you want to work on just the optimization algorithms, then that can be done only in academia or at very large companies which can afford specialization.
Some friends are working on a courier dispatching system, which includes very clever optimization for choosing trucks and mapping routes. But most of the effort goes into making sure that the mobile app works on 5-year-old smartphones, and the fonts on the PDF invoices look right, and so on.
If you want to work on just the optimization algorithms, then that can be done only in academia or at very large companies which can afford specialization.