6 ms·

Never Criticize Your Competitors

78 points by sgrove 17y ago

sgrove 17y ago
It's easy to get too caught up in the heat of competition to remember civility. Suppressing the, "I'm gonna CRUSH the competition" urges makes for more enjoyable relationships, a better atmosphere, and most importantly, better decisions.
JacobAldridge 17y ago
Even if some of these benefits seem long term or irrelevant (like being bought out by a competitor), the tip about growing the overall market is both immediate and gold. If you have 10% market share you can grow by taking customers from the competition, or by maintaining that percentage while you and competitors help the market to grow and grow. Both are worthwhile strategies, the latter especially so in emerging industries / technologies.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
xenophanes 17y ago
Apple's TV ads criticize Microsoft. I think "never" is too strong, but you should definitely be careful, and do it in good humor.
- pmorici 17y ago
  There's a fine line between criticism vs. compare and contrast.
  - dannyr 17y ago
    There's also a fine line between humor and making fun of people. For me, "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" is not humor. By the way, I'm a PC guy.
    - pmorici 17y ago
      I think the Apple ads try and cast PC as a representation of conformity, they aren't making fun of PC.
      - dannyr 17y ago
        I actually think in the Bay Area, it's reverse. Having a Mac or an IPhone is conformity. I have never seen so many Mac/IPhone users anywhere else in the world.
        pmorici 17y ago
        Right, since when is advertisement meant to give an accurate picture of reality.
        angstrom 17y ago
        Can't reach self actualization without an Apple enema. The whole "I'm a PC" response from MS was decent. Unfortunately, they didn't go after the fashion statement base, which are the only Mac users who bother me. They're the ones that could be surfing the same Internet on a PC for 1/2 the cost.
- sgrove 17y ago
  That's true, but as you said, Apple is very careful in phrasing their criticisms. Microsoft's flaws are drawn out from comparisons, not explicitly stated by Apple's guy (I don't know the actor's name). The viewer then makes the predetermined conclusion on "independently". It's a crafty technique put to good use by Apple's marketing department. Whether it's something a small startup could use to put a dent in a market goliath, I'm not so sure.
  - joechung 17y ago
    The actor who plays the Apple guy is Justin Long.
  - sili 17y ago
    They are also careful to say PC not Microsoft even though everyone understands what they mean.
    - rythie 17y ago
      Yes, and it's annoying. My PC runs Linux and virtually nothing Apple says in those adverts applies to Linux.
      - DrJokepu 17y ago
        And it's not even honest given that ever since they abandoned PowerPC, Macs are pretty much the same as any other gereric x64, except that they're perhaps better designed than Dells or HPs and that they ship it with their own custom OS (which is a lot of difference from a user's perspective but still not quite honest in my opinion).
- Goladus 17y ago
  Whatever you might think of Apple's TV ads, Steve Jobs is rather notable for not being afraid to slam Microsoft.
edw519 17y ago
"We are competitors, not enemies." - Bill Clinton
- known 17y ago
  But the reality is competition breeds hatred.
maxniederhofer 17y ago
1. Never generalize. 2. This is helpful in the sense that criticism isn't necessarily the best way to compete, especially if you're growing a new market. 3. Sometimes it's good to ignore your competition, sometimes it's good to partner with them, sometimes it's best to undercut them on price, or best them on features. And sometimes it's best to tell everyone the raw deal they've been getting. 4. Criticizing your competition generally works better in established markets where you're resegmenting.
ckinnan 17y ago
Be careful having lunch with competitors; conversations to set prices or market share are illegal in the US.
- DenisM 17y ago
  I long for the day when this becomes a concern for me.
- zackattack 17y ago
  At what point does a casual conversation become illegal collusion? Edit: Alex Rampell, CEO of TrialPay, says this: don't worry about that. you have to control the market and the market has to be big enough to cause economic damage if it is controlled. VERY hard to make an anti-trust case stick.
  - ckinnan 17y ago
    There is no economic damage requirement if you engage in explicit price or output fixing (which could be a verbal agreement). See: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/04/ftcdojguidelines.pdf http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/04/ftcdojguidelines.pdf "Types of agreements that have been held per se illegal include agreements among competitors to fix prices or output, rig bids, or share or divide markets by allocating customers, suppliers, territories, or lines of commerce. The courts conclusively presume such agreements, once identified, to be illegal, without inquiring into their claimed business purposes, anticompetitive harms, procompetitive benefits, or overall competitive effects." Obviously small players aren't worth prosecuting but that's a different question.
  - fatdog789 17y ago
    Don't trust a CEO. Collusion is always illegal when it's anti-competitive, whatever the size of the participants of the collusion. The key point to take away though, is that the authorities are unlikely to enforce antitrust laws against minor/negligible market participants. However, as little as 2% combined total market share has been enough to justify enforcement of antitrust laws for collusion.
  - zngtk4 17y ago
benatkin 17y ago
"Tony Hsieh the CEO of Zappos does" After seeing the tense on this, I guessed that this article must have been written before Amazon bought them. I was right. I hope the Zappos culture lives on, even though they got bought by Amazon. They've been a great example for aspiring entrepreneurs.
plainspace 17y ago
brilliant post. there is a fine line here but imagine a world in which criticism was not the knee jerk reaction? not just in business but in general. at school, in the playground, on the playing field, in politics. it makes me think of 2 things: Ben Zander's "the art of possibility" and something else that I can't remember right now.
billswift 17y ago
Beyond the civility issue, if you think your competition is doing something wrong, don't criticize them, just do it better and capture more of the market. (This doesn't apply in his illustration of France Telecom's tactics, but it's the first thing that occurred to me before I actually read the essay.)
- rbanffy 17y ago
  And, if your competition is doing something really, really wrong (as in "illegal"), report them to the authorities immediately.
aw3c2 17y ago
How can this be missing this: If you critize your competition, you basically give them a good handle where to improve themselves. You do not want your competition to improve if you want to make money.

78 points by sgrove 17y ago

It's easy to get too caught up in the heat of competition to remember civility. Suppressing the, "I'm gonna CRUSH the competition" urges makes for more enjoyable relationships, a better atmosphere, and most importantly, better decisions.

JacobAldridge 17y ago

Even if some of these benefits seem long term or irrelevant (like being bought out by a competitor), the tip about growing the overall market is both immediate and gold. If you have 10% market share you can grow by taking customers from the competition, or by maintaining that percentage while you and competitors help the market to grow and grow. Both are worthwhile strategies, the latter especially so in emerging industries / technologies.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]

xenophanes 17y ago

Apple's TV ads criticize Microsoft. I think "never" is too strong, but you should definitely be careful, and do it in good humor.

pmorici 17y ago
There's a fine line between criticism vs. compare and contrast.
- dannyr 17y ago
  There's also a fine line between humor and making fun of people. For me, "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" is not humor. By the way, I'm a PC guy.
  - pmorici 17y ago
    I think the Apple ads try and cast PC as a representation of conformity, they aren't making fun of PC.
    - dannyr 17y ago
      I actually think in the Bay Area, it's reverse. Having a Mac or an IPhone is conformity. I have never seen so many Mac/IPhone users anywhere else in the world.
      - pmorici 17y ago
        Right, since when is advertisement meant to give an accurate picture of reality.
      - angstrom 17y ago
        Can't reach self actualization without an Apple enema. The whole "I'm a PC" response from MS was decent. Unfortunately, they didn't go after the fashion statement base, which are the only Mac users who bother me. They're the ones that could be surfing the same Internet on a PC for 1/2 the cost.
sgrove 17y ago
That's true, but as you said, Apple is very careful in phrasing their criticisms. Microsoft's flaws are drawn out from comparisons, not explicitly stated by Apple's guy (I don't know the actor's name). The viewer then makes the predetermined conclusion on "independently". It's a crafty technique put to good use by Apple's marketing department. Whether it's something a small startup could use to put a dent in a market goliath, I'm not so sure.
- joechung 17y ago
  The actor who plays the Apple guy is Justin Long.
- sili 17y ago
  They are also careful to say PC not Microsoft even though everyone understands what they mean.
  - rythie 17y ago
    Yes, and it's annoying. My PC runs Linux and virtually nothing Apple says in those adverts applies to Linux.
    - DrJokepu 17y ago
      And it's not even honest given that ever since they abandoned PowerPC, Macs are pretty much the same as any other gereric x64, except that they're perhaps better designed than Dells or HPs and that they ship it with their own custom OS (which is a lot of difference from a user's perspective but still not quite honest in my opinion).
Goladus 17y ago
Whatever you might think of Apple's TV ads, Steve Jobs is rather notable for not being afraid to slam Microsoft.

edw519 17y ago

"We are competitors, not enemies." - Bill Clinton

known 17y ago
But the reality is competition breeds hatred.

maxniederhofer 17y ago

1. Never generalize. 2. This is helpful in the sense that criticism isn't necessarily the best way to compete, especially if you're growing a new market. 3. Sometimes it's good to ignore your competition, sometimes it's good to partner with them, sometimes it's best to undercut them on price, or best them on features. And sometimes it's best to tell everyone the raw deal they've been getting. 4. Criticizing your competition generally works better in established markets where you're resegmenting.

ckinnan 17y ago

Be careful having lunch with competitors; conversations to set prices or market share are illegal in the US.

DenisM 17y ago
I long for the day when this becomes a concern for me.
zackattack 17y ago
At what point does a casual conversation become illegal collusion? Edit: Alex Rampell, CEO of TrialPay, says this: don't worry about that. you have to control the market and the market has to be big enough to cause economic damage if it is controlled. VERY hard to make an anti-trust case stick.
- ckinnan 17y ago
  There is no economic damage requirement if you engage in explicit price or output fixing (which could be a verbal agreement). See: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/04/ftcdojguidelines.pdf http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/04/ftcdojguidelines.pdf "Types of agreements that have been held per se illegal include agreements among competitors to fix prices or output, rig bids, or share or divide markets by allocating customers, suppliers, territories, or lines of commerce. The courts conclusively presume such agreements, once identified, to be illegal, without inquiring into their claimed business purposes, anticompetitive harms, procompetitive benefits, or overall competitive effects." Obviously small players aren't worth prosecuting but that's a different question.
- fatdog789 17y ago
  Don't trust a CEO. Collusion is always illegal when it's anti-competitive, whatever the size of the participants of the collusion. The key point to take away though, is that the authorities are unlikely to enforce antitrust laws against minor/negligible market participants. However, as little as 2% combined total market share has been enough to justify enforcement of antitrust laws for collusion.
- zngtk4 17y ago

benatkin 17y ago

"Tony Hsieh the CEO of Zappos does" After seeing the tense on this, I guessed that this article must have been written before Amazon bought them. I was right. I hope the Zappos culture lives on, even though they got bought by Amazon. They've been a great example for aspiring entrepreneurs.

plainspace 17y ago

brilliant post. there is a fine line here but imagine a world in which criticism was not the knee jerk reaction? not just in business but in general. at school, in the playground, on the playing field, in politics. it makes me think of 2 things: Ben Zander's "the art of possibility" and something else that I can't remember right now.

billswift 17y ago

Beyond the civility issue, if you think your competition is doing something wrong, don't criticize them, just do it better and capture more of the market. (This doesn't apply in his illustration of France Telecom's tactics, but it's the first thing that occurred to me before I actually read the essay.)

rbanffy 17y ago
And, if your competition is doing something really, really wrong (as in "illegal"), report them to the authorities immediately.

aw3c2 17y ago

How can this be missing this: If you critize your competition, you basically give them a good handle where to improve themselves. You do not want your competition to improve if you want to make money.