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If you think that all it takes to build this business is copying Twilio's code, then you should try making money off printing bingo cards.

mikepp 16y ago
Is this the new paradigm in Tech/Silicon Valley? Copying the crucial component of others' work and just building a business off of it? I hope this is not how we create innovation going forward.
- mechanical_fish 16y ago
  Which part of Silicon Valley do you think patio11 lives in? When, exactly, did he claim that "innovation" was some critical portion of his business models? One of Patrick's most charming features is his unwillingness to tie himself up in emotional knots over his status as an "innovator", or fret about whether or not his products sufficiently express the essence of his cutting-edge twenty-first-century personality. He just makes things that people want, and markets them systematically with a great deal of focus. And he writes about that. My lawyer, my accountant, my dentist, my doctor, my grocer, and my pharmacist don't have particularly innovative business models. They just provide things that I want, and I pay for them. There is no sin in that.
  - mikepp 16y ago
    "Tech/Silicon Valley". Didn't imply he lived in the Valley. "My lawyer, my accountant, my dentist, my doctor, my grocer, and my pharmacist don't have particularly innovative business models." This has nothing to do with his business model. It's about using someone else's work and passing it off as your own. I'm sure I'll get downvoted again, but I hate the blatant disregard for intellectual property. Twilio paid its $90-100K+ developer to program and document the appointment reminder script, and in the end, weren't credited for the crucial component of the work.
    - patio11 16y ago
      I yield to no one in my respect for IP, and my karma would be higher if I didn't feel the need to pipe up so frequently on the "we should be able to steal music" topics. But I did not actually use Twilio's sample code for my product. It is sample code. Really. Go try running it, come back when you find that it doesn't even have enough for Rails to load. I didn't even use that code as a base for mine. Again, it is sample code. Take a look at the user experience or error handling -- they're clearly inadequate for a real product, but suffice to give a competent Rails developer a taste of what API it takes to actually have Twilio make a phone ring. After you can make a phone ring (in one line -- and, again, one line I don't even use), you only need the other 3,500 lines of AR to actually make that phone call worthwhile for business purposes.
- dwwoelfel 16y ago
  Twilio wants him to do this. They created a fund that invests in startups like patio11's [1]. One of the Twilio people even wrote a comment on HN encouraging patio11 to apply [2]. [1] http://blog.500startups.com/2010/09/23/twilio-fund-for-500-startups/ http://blog.500startups.com/2010/09/23/twilio-fund-for-500-s... [2] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1721822 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1721822
  - mikepp 16y ago
    "Twilio wants him to do this" That's quite misleading. One of the workers encouraged him to apply. This was 75 days before the product actually launched.
    - joshuacc 16y ago
      How does the timeframe affect anything? patio11 has had a landing page up describing the product's functionality for months.
    - detst 16y ago
      You should really stop and think about what you are saying. Do you understand the business Twilio is in? The entire point of putting example code out there is to get people to use it or be inspired by it so that Twilio can make money from its use. I recall at one point they were actively soliciting people that were interested in the service but didn't have ideas to contact them and they would provide you with ideas and/or brainstorm. They want people to take their ideas/code so they can make money. They aren't in the appointment reminders business but would love for anyone in that business to use their service.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  It certainly isn't how you're going to go much further forward. Way to go go make a first impression like this. Really, you're clueless about Patrick and just about everything else you're commenting on how about you spend some time familiarizing yourself with all the actors here before making snap judgments that are bordering on libel?

mikepp 16y ago

Is this the new paradigm in Tech/Silicon Valley? Copying the crucial component of others' work and just building a business off of it? I hope this is not how we create innovation going forward.

mechanical_fish 16y ago
Which part of Silicon Valley do you think patio11 lives in? When, exactly, did he claim that "innovation" was some critical portion of his business models? One of Patrick's most charming features is his unwillingness to tie himself up in emotional knots over his status as an "innovator", or fret about whether or not his products sufficiently express the essence of his cutting-edge twenty-first-century personality. He just makes things that people want, and markets them systematically with a great deal of focus. And he writes about that. My lawyer, my accountant, my dentist, my doctor, my grocer, and my pharmacist don't have particularly innovative business models. They just provide things that I want, and I pay for them. There is no sin in that.
- mikepp 16y ago
  "Tech/Silicon Valley". Didn't imply he lived in the Valley. "My lawyer, my accountant, my dentist, my doctor, my grocer, and my pharmacist don't have particularly innovative business models." This has nothing to do with his business model. It's about using someone else's work and passing it off as your own. I'm sure I'll get downvoted again, but I hate the blatant disregard for intellectual property. Twilio paid its $90-100K+ developer to program and document the appointment reminder script, and in the end, weren't credited for the crucial component of the work.
  - patio11 16y ago
    I yield to no one in my respect for IP, and my karma would be higher if I didn't feel the need to pipe up so frequently on the "we should be able to steal music" topics. But I did not actually use Twilio's sample code for my product. It is sample code. Really. Go try running it, come back when you find that it doesn't even have enough for Rails to load. I didn't even use that code as a base for mine. Again, it is sample code. Take a look at the user experience or error handling -- they're clearly inadequate for a real product, but suffice to give a competent Rails developer a taste of what API it takes to actually have Twilio make a phone ring. After you can make a phone ring (in one line -- and, again, one line I don't even use), you only need the other 3,500 lines of AR to actually make that phone call worthwhile for business purposes.
dwwoelfel 16y ago
Twilio wants him to do this. They created a fund that invests in startups like patio11's [1]. One of the Twilio people even wrote a comment on HN encouraging patio11 to apply [2]. [1] http://blog.500startups.com/2010/09/23/twilio-fund-for-500-startups/ http://blog.500startups.com/2010/09/23/twilio-fund-for-500-s... [2] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1721822 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1721822
- mikepp 16y ago
  "Twilio wants him to do this" That's quite misleading. One of the workers encouraged him to apply. This was 75 days before the product actually launched.
  - joshuacc 16y ago
    How does the timeframe affect anything? patio11 has had a landing page up describing the product's functionality for months.
  - detst 16y ago
    You should really stop and think about what you are saying. Do you understand the business Twilio is in? The entire point of putting example code out there is to get people to use it or be inspired by it so that Twilio can make money from its use. I recall at one point they were actively soliciting people that were interested in the service but didn't have ideas to contact them and they would provide you with ideas and/or brainstorm. They want people to take their ideas/code so they can make money. They aren't in the appointment reminders business but would love for anyone in that business to use their service.
jacquesm 16y ago
It certainly isn't how you're going to go much further forward. Way to go go make a first impression like this. Really, you're clueless about Patrick and just about everything else you're commenting on how about you spend some time familiarizing yourself with all the actors here before making snap judgments that are bordering on libel?