7 ms·

I tend to agree with the original comment, particularly for products that are still evolving. We have a competitor who copies our features, but they don't know

by jaxn 7y ago

I tend to agree with the original comment, particularly for products that are still evolving. We have a competitor who copies our features, but they don't know why we built the feature. The result is they end up copying the wrong stuff or tweaking the feature in a way that completely misses the point. But, I agree with you in that creating a feature isn't an advantage in and of itself. Rather, it is the domain expertise that led to the creation of the feature that is the true advantage.

endymi0n 7y ago
Agree with generally not worrying about the competition — we were a little worried since a valley startup of ex-Big4 people cloned us 3 years ago, but they haven‘t managed to come far, despite a whopping 8MM seed round (we were bootstrapped). This example however seems to play in a different league, the extent of ripoff here is absolutely staggering. If I were OP, I‘d immediately call Daimler‘s PR department. After the whole dieselgate shitshow, none of the German automakers are out for the slightest bit of negative PR... https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/01/10/1685883/0/en/UPDATED-Daimler-Partners-with-Otonomo-to-Provide-Connected-Car-Customers-with-New-Services-while-Delivering-on-the-Promise-of-Data-Privacy.html https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/01/10/168588...
chmod775 7y ago
Try adding some random stuff that you get for basically free with your choice of backend / implementation. This will waste their time if its a harder problem with their backend / implementation. Another fun thing you can do is using something that looks like a 3rd-party service/API, but is really just another domain controlled by your company. Make it something specific to your business, so they'll be tempted to use it. IF they use it, the least you can do is terminate their access at an inconvenient time. This will frustrate their customers as they scramble to do their own implementation. Final thing you can do is not doing incremental updates, but instead doing big rollouts with many features at once. That way they'll always be weeks to months behind you. Basically, when someone is following you, mine the path to the point that it's cheaper and more effective for them to find their own. Edit: Bonus round is talking about some near-useless feature on your dev blog that would be hilariously expensive and complicated to build, without actually building it. Hope they waste time on it.
- dylan604 7y ago
  >Final thing you can do is not doing incremental updates, but instead doing big rollouts with many features at once. > >That way they'll always be weeks to months behind you. This reminds me of the old days when Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand. I learned both apps, as each release from one would leap frog the other in features. I actually learned from a roommate that was taking college courses, and I would do his homework assignments. Not do them for him, but on my own just to learn the software. Saved me from needing to take the course!
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
da_chicken 7y ago
Apple is the perfect counter example here. Apple wasn't the first company to make an MP3 player, but the generic term is basically 'iPod'. Apple wasn't the first company to make a smartphones or touchscreens, but the generic term for a touchscreen smartphone is basically 'iPhone'. Apple wasn't the first company to make a tablet, but the generic term is basically 'iPad'. Apple didn't invent high resolution displays for personal devices, but the generic term is basically 'Retina display'. We can go back in time, too. Apple didn't invent the mouse or a GUI, but lots of people pointed to the Macintosh as inventing them.
- asveikau 7y ago
  I feel like some of these examples could be US-centric phenomena. We in the US tend to confuse brand names with product categories, and in other markets the Apple brand doesn't have the same dominance in most of these.
  - garmaine 7y ago
    Apple dominates a lot more in many desirable foreign markets.
  - int_19h 7y ago
    At least the iPod/Pad/Phone stuff isn't US-centric - these are colloquially used to refer players/tablets/smartphones in many different languages.
    - kbenson 7y ago
      Of those, the only one I would say that's actually fairly generic is ipod, but that's also the one that's been relegated largely useless as it's an "also" feature of everything else. I don't event here people refer to their non-iphone as an iphone, or their tablet as an ipad. People have have one of those might refer to theirs, and the class in general this way, but given they are actually in the minority of owners for those devices usually, I definitely don't hear it all that often as the generic term.

by jaxn 7y ago

endymi0n 7y ago

Agree with generally not worrying about the competition — we were a little worried since a valley startup of ex-Big4 people cloned us 3 years ago, but they haven‘t managed to come far, despite a whopping 8MM seed round (we were bootstrapped). This example however seems to play in a different league, the extent of ripoff here is absolutely staggering. If I were OP, I‘d immediately call Daimler‘s PR department. After the whole dieselgate shitshow, none of the German automakers are out for the slightest bit of negative PR... https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/01/10/1685883/0/en/UPDATED-Daimler-Partners-with-Otonomo-to-Provide-Connected-Car-Customers-with-New-Services-while-Delivering-on-the-Promise-of-Data-Privacy.html https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/01/10/168588...

chmod775 7y ago

Try adding some random stuff that you get for basically free with your choice of backend / implementation. This will waste their time if its a harder problem with their backend / implementation. Another fun thing you can do is using something that looks like a 3rd-party service/API, but is really just another domain controlled by your company. Make it something specific to your business, so they'll be tempted to use it. IF they use it, the least you can do is terminate their access at an inconvenient time. This will frustrate their customers as they scramble to do their own implementation. Final thing you can do is not doing incremental updates, but instead doing big rollouts with many features at once. That way they'll always be weeks to months behind you. Basically, when someone is following you, mine the path to the point that it's cheaper and more effective for them to find their own. Edit: Bonus round is talking about some near-useless feature on your dev blog that would be hilariously expensive and complicated to build, without actually building it. Hope they waste time on it.

dylan604 7y ago
>Final thing you can do is not doing incremental updates, but instead doing big rollouts with many features at once. > >That way they'll always be weeks to months behind you. This reminds me of the old days when Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand. I learned both apps, as each release from one would leap frog the other in features. I actually learned from a roommate that was taking college courses, and I would do his homework assignments. Not do them for him, but on my own just to learn the software. Saved me from needing to take the course!

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

da_chicken 7y ago

Apple is the perfect counter example here. Apple wasn't the first company to make an MP3 player, but the generic term is basically 'iPod'. Apple wasn't the first company to make a smartphones or touchscreens, but the generic term for a touchscreen smartphone is basically 'iPhone'. Apple wasn't the first company to make a tablet, but the generic term is basically 'iPad'. Apple didn't invent high resolution displays for personal devices, but the generic term is basically 'Retina display'. We can go back in time, too. Apple didn't invent the mouse or a GUI, but lots of people pointed to the Macintosh as inventing them.

asveikau 7y ago
I feel like some of these examples could be US-centric phenomena. We in the US tend to confuse brand names with product categories, and in other markets the Apple brand doesn't have the same dominance in most of these.
- garmaine 7y ago
  Apple dominates a lot more in many desirable foreign markets.
- int_19h 7y ago
  At least the iPod/Pad/Phone stuff isn't US-centric - these are colloquially used to refer players/tablets/smartphones in many different languages.
  - kbenson 7y ago
    Of those, the only one I would say that's actually fairly generic is ipod, but that's also the one that's been relegated largely useless as it's an "also" feature of everything else. I don't event here people refer to their non-iphone as an iphone, or their tablet as an ipad. People have have one of those might refer to theirs, and the class in general this way, but given they are actually in the minority of owners for those devices usually, I definitely don't hear it all that often as the generic term.