4 ms·

You really hit the nail on the head and i agree 100% with this line " This isn't all the peak of innovation, many times it's just people working on a CRUD site

You really hit the nail on the head and i agree 100% with this line " This isn't all the peak of innovation, many times it's just people working on a CRUD site trying to "disrupt big industry player x" until they run out of money and then resort to the same cheap tactics as everyone else." I have to ask myself is it worth it to start a web or mobile phone startup right now or wait a few yrs. The reason why i am thinking along these lines, is because it is so hard to find product differentiation in this climate with everyone running lean and trampling all over each other. An example, i clicked on the above link and assumed i was on the website Medium, but then i saw that he was the creator of svbtle, so i decide to check it out, assuming it might be a fashion site, then i realized that svbtle is the site i was on. It seems like the only place seeing any real product differentiation and innovation is the hardware space right now.

Joeri 13y ago
Really good ideas can be started at any time, and don't suffer from competitive pressure. The way i see it, there are two categories of products: gold rushes and fishing expeditions. The social space is a classic gold rush scenario. The winners in that space won almost by accident, and someone else could have easily taken their place. Google on the other hand started as a fishing expedition. If they hadn't built it back when they did, we might have used altavisa for another 5 years and been none the wiser.
charlieok 13y ago
I agree that Svbtle and Medium have a similar look and overall design sensibility. But in the interest of giving credit where it is due... Svbtle's announcement is dated March 22, 2012 http://dcurt.is/codename-svbtle https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3742314 Medium's announcement is dated October 29, 2012 https://medium.com/about/9e53ca408c48 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4383283 (not to mention Obtvse) So, I think Dustin deserves some credit for originality on this one.
- xemoka 13y ago
  Originality? You mean iteration right?
  - charlieok 13y ago
    My impression is that he came up with a design successful enough that it has well-known imitators. Can you say a bit about what you mean by “iteration”?

Joeri 13y ago

Really good ideas can be started at any time, and don't suffer from competitive pressure. The way i see it, there are two categories of products: gold rushes and fishing expeditions. The social space is a classic gold rush scenario. The winners in that space won almost by accident, and someone else could have easily taken their place. Google on the other hand started as a fishing expedition. If they hadn't built it back when they did, we might have used altavisa for another 5 years and been none the wiser.

charlieok 13y ago

I agree that Svbtle and Medium have a similar look and overall design sensibility. But in the interest of giving credit where it is due... Svbtle's announcement is dated March 22, 2012 http://dcurt.is/codename-svbtle https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3742314 Medium's announcement is dated October 29, 2012 https://medium.com/about/9e53ca408c48 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4383283 (not to mention Obtvse) So, I think Dustin deserves some credit for originality on this one.

xemoka 13y ago
Originality? You mean iteration right?
- charlieok 13y ago
  My impression is that he came up with a design successful enough that it has well-known imitators. Can you say a bit about what you mean by “iteration”?