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I beg to differ. Peldi with Balsamiq, and Notch with Minecraft both demonstrate this strategy well. Being open turns winners into bigger winners. I would not h
by ericb 14y ago
I beg to differ. Peldi with Balsamiq, and Notch with Minecraft both demonstrate this strategy well.
Being open turns winners into bigger winners. I would not have looked at either services without their blog posts. Yes, the strategy attracts me-too services. BUT, the strategy only attracts wannabes if it is working. So, if you post your earnings and it draws no attention, it is unlikely the competitors which Jacques fears will start circling because no one read the post! I think there's a pg quote somewhere about none of the YC companies ever "losing" to a competitor...
I also think the characterization of most businesses as zero sum games is wrong. The difference is that we're creating diamonds rather than finding diamonds.
- jacquesm 14y agoMinecraft is technically beyond most copycats and Balsamiq is in a completely different category. If it isn't working by all means post your figures. If it is working, keep them to yourself until it no longer matters. Finding something that works is hard enough without having to fend off a horde of clones competing for the same space. And in the case of app-store stuff 'clones' could be bit-for-bit clones, made in minutes off your hard work.
- yesimahuman 14y agoHow is balsamiq in a completely different category, didn't it too start as a "small" app? From my interpretation of your post sharing like Peldi or 37signals is exactly what you are suggesting not to do, yet one of the reasons these companies have such great exposure is because they've shared enough to build an audience.
- jacquesm 14y agoBalsamiq looks like lots of work to me, and it can not be easily copied. I may be wrong there but that's my impression.
- yesimahuman 14y agoThanks! I ask because I hope my product fits the balsamiq mold and one of our strategies has been to be open and share stuff, so this post made me feel uncertain about that strategy!
- bermanoid 14y agoMinecraft is technically beyond most copycats and Balsamiq is in a completely different category. Actually, there are probably a dozen serious Minecraft clones, some of which arguably have better execution than Minecraft (at least on the technical level), and some of which have realized pretty good sales (FortressCraft sold almost a million copies, from what I remember). Minecraft does have something that those copycats lack, but it's not just the technology.