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>But most importantly, a complete failure of vision and innovation. I dream of the day when people will link the "Why use Dropbox when you can just..." HackerN

>But most importantly, a complete failure of vision and innovation. I dream of the day when people will link the "Why use Dropbox when you can just..." HackerNews comment unironically. People like to do the "success!" victory laps quite early. There's more to success than a cool product and insiders getting to exit wealthy. I think this is still a yet-to-be-seen situation.

treis 6y ago
It seems like a failure of expectations. Dropbox created a market and delivered an extremely well executed product to meet it. But that wasn't enough to satisfy the expectation of growth that VC funded businesses have.
- grumple 6y ago
  "Innovate or die" seems to ring true here.
  - treis 6y ago
    I'm not sure I agree. A magic folder that syncs across all your devices is going to be useful for the foreseeable future. Eventually maybe Dropbox dies without real innovation but I think that fundamental concept could last for decades.
    - grumple 6y ago
      > A magic folder that syncs across all your devices is going to be useful for the foreseeable future. This is exactly why they must innovate. Their core tech is useful, but it is also replicable; so as soon as someone has magic folder PLUS more useful features bundled together (as some already do), Dropbox fails to be as worth having as a separate service for users that prefer the bundle. Which is why they have issues at present.
oblio 6y ago
> People like to do the "success!" victory laps quite early. There's more to success than a cool product and insiders getting to exit wealthy. I think this is still a yet-to-be-seen situation. Is success only taking over the world?
- itsoktocry 6y ago
  >Is success only taking over the world? Who said that? To me success is building a sustainable business, regardless of the size. I know what success isn't: making billionaires of insiders while destroying shareholder value.
  - oblio 6y ago
    Dropbox is profitable and has been around for a decade. That's more than most businesses can say. How long do they need to be around for your "blessing"? A century?

treis 6y ago

It seems like a failure of expectations. Dropbox created a market and delivered an extremely well executed product to meet it. But that wasn't enough to satisfy the expectation of growth that VC funded businesses have.

grumple 6y ago
"Innovate or die" seems to ring true here.
- treis 6y ago
  I'm not sure I agree. A magic folder that syncs across all your devices is going to be useful for the foreseeable future. Eventually maybe Dropbox dies without real innovation but I think that fundamental concept could last for decades.
  - grumple 6y ago
    > A magic folder that syncs across all your devices is going to be useful for the foreseeable future. This is exactly why they must innovate. Their core tech is useful, but it is also replicable; so as soon as someone has magic folder PLUS more useful features bundled together (as some already do), Dropbox fails to be as worth having as a separate service for users that prefer the bundle. Which is why they have issues at present.

oblio 6y ago

> People like to do the "success!" victory laps quite early. There's more to success than a cool product and insiders getting to exit wealthy. I think this is still a yet-to-be-seen situation. Is success only taking over the world?

itsoktocry 6y ago
>Is success only taking over the world? Who said that? To me success is building a sustainable business, regardless of the size. I know what success isn't: making billionaires of insiders while destroying shareholder value.
- oblio 6y ago
  Dropbox is profitable and has been around for a decade. That's more than most businesses can say. How long do they need to be around for your "blessing"? A century?