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You know, I see your point. Our mantra is "ideas are worthless, execution is everything". Rocket is an execution machine, and they deserve recognition for that.
by mmelin 14y ago
You know, I see your point. Our mantra is "ideas are worthless, execution is everything". Rocket is an execution machine, and they deserve recognition for that. The problem is that because they are so successful at copying ideas and executing them in other markets, it reinforces the stereotype that this is what all European startups do. Maybe it's simply a matter of lack of confidence on the part of us Europeans, but I think a lot of people agree with me on this.
- justincormack 14y agoFrom the article they have expanded to doing this in Brazil and SE Asia now too which makes it a more interesting business.
- da3da 14y agoI don't think this is true. I follow tech trends fairly closely, but I use very few of the consumer tech startups, with the exception of Spotify, which was created in Sweden. Those on HN may have this perception of the Europe startup scene, but most consumers only care about whether the product is valuable to them, not whether it is original.
- flexie 14y agoRocket Internet identified a market in the fact that American companies often ignore the European market for years. Because of their large home market, American web startups can grow to considerable sizes before having to worry about multiple languages, multiple export rules, multiple tax systems, multiple consumer protection regimes, multiple payment systems etc. That is a huge advantage that American companies have over European startups. Rocket Internet and their like are levelling the playing field a bit. All business ideas are to large extend inspired by others. Maybe some of the companies the Samwer brothers "cloned" were truly first in their field, but if they had taken the German market serious the Samwer brothers wouldn't have had a chance. It's their bad.