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This may be a silver lining - a competitor has shown that the work you have done, exactly the work you have done is worth 55 million in VC funding. There are

This may be a silver lining - a competitor has shown that the work you have done, exactly the work you have done is worth 55 million in VC funding. There are enough people on here who can point you in the right direction, or arrange introductions. Spend at least one of those millions on PR and lawyers to ensure it's clear who has the moral high ground, and who should be hired if a company has to choose between you - I mean if they are prepared to breach copyright so blatantly here, who knows what other problems they have in their repos - enterprises can be very conservatice on unknown legal risks like that Summary: They are vulnerable - Get 'em

wjnc 8y ago
I would agree on this with one caveat - you should be able to run this battle on a back burner or don't go there. If it would consume you ... Don't. Your time and positive energy are too important. But if you can (it's what's in the CEO learning curve imho) spent a small faction of your time dealing with competitors. If this one is a proper competitor and you have leverage (public goodwill, cash to burn for litigation and communication) - go there. Your investors are probably with you if the threat is both to you and their investment. The outrage factor will probably play into your hands as well. A bankrolled litigation fund (smallish) is doable.
mkolodny 8y ago
> Summary: They are vulnerable - Get 'em Or, go get $55 Million in VC funding from someone else. You have a major head start. Your company is theoretically worth at least as much as theirs. Complaining about competitors copying you might slow them down a bit. But it will probably slow you down a lot more. On the other hand, using their valuation to raise $55M+ would be a huge boost for you.
- brk 8y ago
  "Your company is theoretically worth at least as much as theirs." Maybe. Having worked in the auto industry (albeit well over a decade ago), it is one of those industries where connections, and knowing how to navigate the relationships, goes a long way. I don't know much about either of these companies, or their founders, but in B2B scenarios like this, the value is often related to much more than just the underlying technology. If I were Smartcar, I would look closely at relationships, physical and virtual proximity to major automotive players, and how their suppliers prefer to do business. And, perhaps they already have...
  - taurath 8y ago
    The fact that in-car tech is so bad in general is a good indicator that the auto industry is a relationship industry. Its a golf course based business, and building the tech is the "easy" part. See also: the payments and especially credit card space - if you don't start up with the backing of a major player your entire business hinges on bus-dev and exec relationships to convince the incumbents to let you play in the space.
gonational 8y ago
If the work SmartCar had done was worth $55 million, I suspect Company X (or their VC) would have used their money to purchase this company for $55 million instead of deciding to waste the time cloning it. Instead, think of the work as a means to an end, the end being revenue. Company X was able to raise $55 million because they were able to demonstrate that the potential market could support the revenue necessary to justify such funds, and that they could use the work already done by SmartCar to get to market more quickly. Now, in my opinion this is very shady and should be grounds for a lawsuit, but in terms of raw business savvy, the $55 million is for a smart business that knows how to execute for less. If money raised was in direct correlation to a quality product or the ability to produce such a product, rather than in direct correlation with e.g., the team (cabal?) involved and their ability to make returns for investors, then we’d be living in a very different world.
netsharc 8y ago
Is it worth 55 mil, or is it just networking? I can imagine the "Kickstarter scam" running in the VC scene, the Kickstarter scam being: you show ads for a product on Kickstarter with the line "300 thousand dollars in backers already! Get yours too!", but that money isn't from genuine backers, coming from your friends instead. Then a chump seeing the ad will think "Oh, this new gadget is popular, it must be good, let me buy 1 for the introductory price!" and gives you his money. Then you just keep the chumps updated with "Sorry for the delays, we have manufacturing difficulties" month after month. So in the VC scene, you could get your friend to invest in your idea for $$$, get other investors interested, and... profit? I can imagine it'd be nice to spend the genuine VC money on company Lamborghinis and penthouses for a few months, declare bankruptcy, rinse and repeat (just steal the API from the next "Smartcar"...).
- kmlx 8y ago
  > I can imagine it'd be nice to spend the genuine VC money on company Lamborghinis and penthouses for a few months, declare bankruptcy, rinse and repeat or simply refocus the startup on used lambos and penthouses :)

wjnc 8y ago

I would agree on this with one caveat - you should be able to run this battle on a back burner or don't go there. If it would consume you ... Don't. Your time and positive energy are too important. But if you can (it's what's in the CEO learning curve imho) spent a small faction of your time dealing with competitors. If this one is a proper competitor and you have leverage (public goodwill, cash to burn for litigation and communication) - go there. Your investors are probably with you if the threat is both to you and their investment. The outrage factor will probably play into your hands as well. A bankrolled litigation fund (smallish) is doable.

mkolodny 8y ago

> Summary: They are vulnerable - Get 'em Or, go get $55 Million in VC funding from someone else. You have a major head start. Your company is theoretically worth at least as much as theirs. Complaining about competitors copying you might slow them down a bit. But it will probably slow you down a lot more. On the other hand, using their valuation to raise $55M+ would be a huge boost for you.

brk 8y ago
"Your company is theoretically worth at least as much as theirs." Maybe. Having worked in the auto industry (albeit well over a decade ago), it is one of those industries where connections, and knowing how to navigate the relationships, goes a long way. I don't know much about either of these companies, or their founders, but in B2B scenarios like this, the value is often related to much more than just the underlying technology. If I were Smartcar, I would look closely at relationships, physical and virtual proximity to major automotive players, and how their suppliers prefer to do business. And, perhaps they already have...
- taurath 8y ago
  The fact that in-car tech is so bad in general is a good indicator that the auto industry is a relationship industry. Its a golf course based business, and building the tech is the "easy" part. See also: the payments and especially credit card space - if you don't start up with the backing of a major player your entire business hinges on bus-dev and exec relationships to convince the incumbents to let you play in the space.

gonational 8y ago

If the work SmartCar had done was worth $55 million, I suspect Company X (or their VC) would have used their money to purchase this company for $55 million instead of deciding to waste the time cloning it. Instead, think of the work as a means to an end, the end being revenue. Company X was able to raise $55 million because they were able to demonstrate that the potential market could support the revenue necessary to justify such funds, and that they could use the work already done by SmartCar to get to market more quickly. Now, in my opinion this is very shady and should be grounds for a lawsuit, but in terms of raw business savvy, the $55 million is for a smart business that knows how to execute for less. If money raised was in direct correlation to a quality product or the ability to produce such a product, rather than in direct correlation with e.g., the team (cabal?) involved and their ability to make returns for investors, then we’d be living in a very different world.

netsharc 8y ago

Is it worth 55 mil, or is it just networking? I can imagine the "Kickstarter scam" running in the VC scene, the Kickstarter scam being: you show ads for a product on Kickstarter with the line "300 thousand dollars in backers already! Get yours too!", but that money isn't from genuine backers, coming from your friends instead. Then a chump seeing the ad will think "Oh, this new gadget is popular, it must be good, let me buy 1 for the introductory price!" and gives you his money. Then you just keep the chumps updated with "Sorry for the delays, we have manufacturing difficulties" month after month. So in the VC scene, you could get your friend to invest in your idea for $$$, get other investors interested, and... profit? I can imagine it'd be nice to spend the genuine VC money on company Lamborghinis and penthouses for a few months, declare bankruptcy, rinse and repeat (just steal the API from the next "Smartcar"...).

kmlx 8y ago
> I can imagine it'd be nice to spend the genuine VC money on company Lamborghinis and penthouses for a few months, declare bankruptcy, rinse and repeat or simply refocus the startup on used lambos and penthouses :)