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Maybe existing DHH style companies are a good area to look for inspiration to build free alternatives with some premiums added afterwards... Like flickr added p

Maybe existing DHH style companies are a good area to look for inspiration to build free alternatives with some premiums added afterwards... Like flickr added pro accounts for $25/year. Read Wired's "Why $0 is the future" http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free Building less of an app also means it will be easier for others to come later and build what you made and give it away. Look at how it took 2 people at Google a few days to build HuddleChat which some said was too similar to 37signals' campfire.

Mistone 19y ago
this is true - but is huddle chat negatively impacting Campfire? Campfire customers are not running for the doors now that some other company has built a free alternative. Building less of an app that serves a real need and provides an elegant solution can also mean that customers love your product and stick with you. Alternatives will always exist, competition is a natural part of business, giving your product away for free is not the only way to deal with competitors.
- anewaccountname 19y ago
  Of course it isn't negatively affecting Camfire; they had it removed from the internet.
  - condor 19y ago
    How many other chat/messaging competitors does campfire have? I can guarantee you huddlechat was not the only one, so now that its gone campfire can go back to enjoying their monopoly of the chat/messaging market.
tptacek 19y ago
Campfire is a chat app. I don't think 37Signals sees it as a bulwark against competitors. If HuddleChat integrated with Basecamp and Highrise, maybe they'd take notice. This issue obviously cuts both ways. 2 people at a tiny consulting shop can probably whip up most of what VC-funded 2.0 companies build too. And those consulting companies don't have boards of directors that will flip out and fire the management team when that happens.

Mistone 19y ago

this is true - but is huddle chat negatively impacting Campfire? Campfire customers are not running for the doors now that some other company has built a free alternative. Building less of an app that serves a real need and provides an elegant solution can also mean that customers love your product and stick with you. Alternatives will always exist, competition is a natural part of business, giving your product away for free is not the only way to deal with competitors.

anewaccountname 19y ago
Of course it isn't negatively affecting Camfire; they had it removed from the internet.
- condor 19y ago
  How many other chat/messaging competitors does campfire have? I can guarantee you huddlechat was not the only one, so now that its gone campfire can go back to enjoying their monopoly of the chat/messaging market.

tptacek 19y ago

Campfire is a chat app. I don't think 37Signals sees it as a bulwark against competitors. If HuddleChat integrated with Basecamp and Highrise, maybe they'd take notice. This issue obviously cuts both ways. 2 people at a tiny consulting shop can probably whip up most of what VC-funded 2.0 companies build too. And those consulting companies don't have boards of directors that will flip out and fire the management team when that happens.