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Great. Now that's even more encouragement for German copycat startups…

by mhd 15y ago

sfoguy 15y ago
Like... there are no Groupon clones in the US?
stewbrew 15y ago
May I kindly ask why you put "German" in there? Do you actually think there are no US (or whatever nation you are from copycat) startups? Is there anything special about German copycat startups? Do you have evidence that in Germany there are more copycat startups than in other countries?
- patrickk 15y ago
  Probably a reference to the Samwer brothers. Yes, other countries clone US startups, but these guys are especially successful at it. So I would take it as a compliment. Pioneers are the ones with the arrows in their backs and all that. http://venturebeat.com/2007/05/09/samwers-bankrolled-facebook-clone-now-twitter-clone/ http://venturebeat.com/2007/05/09/samwers-bankrolled-faceboo... http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/02/18/the-samwer-brothers-make-a-killing-after-selling-their-facebook-stake-from-2008/ http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/02/18/the-samwer-brothers-make...
- FrojoS 15y ago
  The difference is, that German copycats usually can roll up the German market by them self, while their US idol is still busy expanding in the US.
- mhd 15y ago
  Hard evidence? No. And I'm not even saying that Germany has that much more (or more per capita) than some other countries. It's just an annoying trend that I've noticed (and I'm not the only one, cf. links at the end). Don't get me wrong, there are many interesting startups, especially the smaller ones. But for a time there was an alarming trend of just taking an US product, and creating a German version of it. And then not keeping up with the original. Of course it's never easy to say where you'd draw the line between copycat and competitor. Xing and Linkedin might be the latter, but StudiVZ and facebook? Quite often there's not much valued added besides the translation (myvideo vs youtube), and once the original gets a German localization… The problem for me is that I'd actually like some German equivalents of some US apps (e.g. netflix, okcupid, mint), but I'd prefer if their implementors would add some passion to it. If you don't restrict yourself to German-language internet, some things often look rather familiar. And, as I said above, quite often that means that there's no excited (and exciting) company behind it, and so nobody will introduce interesting features in the future – or at least keep up with the interesting features of the original. Who's to blame (assuming this is no figment of my biased imagination)? Hard to say. Maybe because there's no breeding ground for new ideas comparable to SV or NYC here (although Berlin might be there or almost), maybe because local investors are more risk-averse and if you show them something American that already has lots of customers/members… http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,779869,00.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,779869,0... http://venturebeat.com/2008/10/22/the-german-start-up-scene-copycats-but-getting-smarter/ http://venturebeat.com/2008/10/22/the-german-start-up-scene-... http://www.thewavingcat.com/2011/09/03/defending-the-german-copycat/ http://www.thewavingcat.com/2011/09/03/defending-the-german-... http://siliconallee.com/startups/2011/08/09/editorial-founders-stand-up-the-anti-copycat-revolution-starts-now http://siliconallee.com/startups/2011/08/09/editorial-founde...
ethnomusicolog 15y ago
that is something that I always found intriguing, with all their technical chops why germans are so good at producing copycats. Any Idea?
- Loic 15y ago
  Look at the BMW, Porsche, Mercedes from the first one to the current one. Germans are incredibly good at refining and improving on top of a good idea. They do that with extremely rigorous scientific approach. So, the copycat is often better than the original, because they took the good idea and pushed it ahead. This is what I understood from the German culture after living there the past 6 years.
  - mhd 15y ago
    This analogy isn't exactly the best, considering that Germans came up with a lot of the automotive innovations in the first place… I'd be careful with quick cultural assumptions (Germans this, Japanese that etc.), a lot more often you'll have to follow the money, i.e. investment, banking system, etc.
- MrKurtHaeusler 15y ago
  I would be interested too, some ideas: Less appetite for risk, less imagination, lack of critical mass for innovation, less cultural diversity, smaller language sphere. Much harder to go without income because of prevalence of longer termination periods for contracts, compulsory health insurance etc. I actually heard an American say at a conference here in Germany recently, "you all get free health care, so it should be easier for you to quit your jobs and start a startup". That doesn't seem realistic. We have to pay for compulsory health insurance. Lots of people get public which means it comes out of your wages or benefits (at around 13%!), or they go private and pay a fixed fee. Not having health insurance is not an option. I went without income or benefit for one month here and people flipped out. It was not something that they had seen before, and freaked out mostly about health insurance. Turns out I was covered under my wife, but if I was not married I would have been in some existential black hole according to the authorities.

Great. Now that's even more encouragement for German copycat startups…

by mhd 15y ago

Great. Now that's even more encouragement for German copycat startups…

sfoguy 15y ago

Like... there are no Groupon clones in the US?

stewbrew 15y ago

May I kindly ask why you put "German" in there? Do you actually think there are no US (or whatever nation you are from copycat) startups? Is there anything special about German copycat startups? Do you have evidence that in Germany there are more copycat startups than in other countries?

patrickk 15y ago
Probably a reference to the Samwer brothers. Yes, other countries clone US startups, but these guys are especially successful at it. So I would take it as a compliment. Pioneers are the ones with the arrows in their backs and all that. http://venturebeat.com/2007/05/09/samwers-bankrolled-facebook-clone-now-twitter-clone/ http://venturebeat.com/2007/05/09/samwers-bankrolled-faceboo... http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/02/18/the-samwer-brothers-make-a-killing-after-selling-their-facebook-stake-from-2008/ http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/02/18/the-samwer-brothers-make...
FrojoS 15y ago
The difference is, that German copycats usually can roll up the German market by them self, while their US idol is still busy expanding in the US.
mhd 15y ago
Hard evidence? No. And I'm not even saying that Germany has that much more (or more per capita) than some other countries. It's just an annoying trend that I've noticed (and I'm not the only one, cf. links at the end). Don't get me wrong, there are many interesting startups, especially the smaller ones. But for a time there was an alarming trend of just taking an US product, and creating a German version of it. And then not keeping up with the original. Of course it's never easy to say where you'd draw the line between copycat and competitor. Xing and Linkedin might be the latter, but StudiVZ and facebook? Quite often there's not much valued added besides the translation (myvideo vs youtube), and once the original gets a German localization… The problem for me is that I'd actually like some German equivalents of some US apps (e.g. netflix, okcupid, mint), but I'd prefer if their implementors would add some passion to it. If you don't restrict yourself to German-language internet, some things often look rather familiar. And, as I said above, quite often that means that there's no excited (and exciting) company behind it, and so nobody will introduce interesting features in the future – or at least keep up with the interesting features of the original. Who's to blame (assuming this is no figment of my biased imagination)? Hard to say. Maybe because there's no breeding ground for new ideas comparable to SV or NYC here (although Berlin might be there or almost), maybe because local investors are more risk-averse and if you show them something American that already has lots of customers/members… http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,779869,00.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,779869,0... http://venturebeat.com/2008/10/22/the-german-start-up-scene-copycats-but-getting-smarter/ http://venturebeat.com/2008/10/22/the-german-start-up-scene-... http://www.thewavingcat.com/2011/09/03/defending-the-german-copycat/ http://www.thewavingcat.com/2011/09/03/defending-the-german-... http://siliconallee.com/startups/2011/08/09/editorial-founders-stand-up-the-anti-copycat-revolution-starts-now http://siliconallee.com/startups/2011/08/09/editorial-founde...

ethnomusicolog 15y ago

that is something that I always found intriguing, with all their technical chops why germans are so good at producing copycats. Any Idea?

Loic 15y ago
Look at the BMW, Porsche, Mercedes from the first one to the current one. Germans are incredibly good at refining and improving on top of a good idea. They do that with extremely rigorous scientific approach. So, the copycat is often better than the original, because they took the good idea and pushed it ahead. This is what I understood from the German culture after living there the past 6 years.
- mhd 15y ago
  This analogy isn't exactly the best, considering that Germans came up with a lot of the automotive innovations in the first place… I'd be careful with quick cultural assumptions (Germans this, Japanese that etc.), a lot more often you'll have to follow the money, i.e. investment, banking system, etc.
MrKurtHaeusler 15y ago
I would be interested too, some ideas: Less appetite for risk, less imagination, lack of critical mass for innovation, less cultural diversity, smaller language sphere. Much harder to go without income because of prevalence of longer termination periods for contracts, compulsory health insurance etc. I actually heard an American say at a conference here in Germany recently, "you all get free health care, so it should be easier for you to quit your jobs and start a startup". That doesn't seem realistic. We have to pay for compulsory health insurance. Lots of people get public which means it comes out of your wages or benefits (at around 13%!), or they go private and pay a fixed fee. Not having health insurance is not an option. I went without income or benefit for one month here and people flipped out. It was not something that they had seen before, and freaked out mostly about health insurance. Turns out I was covered under my wife, but if I was not married I would have been in some existential black hole according to the authorities.