7 ms·

Ask HN: What's your startup's competitive advantage?

10 points by wensing 17y ago

From PG's writings, I'm inspired to believe that simply being a startup with superior technology is in and of itself a huge advantage, and a lasting one. But that's not what investors want to hear, is it? This makes me wonder: who really are your competitors? The ones that really might kill you?

adrianwaj 17y ago
VCs like to hear that your market size is huge, because even if you take a fraction of it, it's still significant. Look at the way you approach a problem, can you hit two birds with the one stone. What about 3?
lsc 17y ago
Who are your customers. VC? or the people using your service? Its an important decision.
- wensing 17y ago
  The people using our service, of course. But that's not really my question. I'm wanting to know what people pitch as their competitive advantage.
  - lsc 17y ago
    For instance, strong lock-in is good for the VC, but bad for your customers.
    - wensing 17y ago
      Might not be good for the VC either, and some are smart enough to realize it. Google was VC funded but believes strongly in Data Liberation, AFAIK.
adrianwaj 17y ago
Competitors are those that provide you with the inspiration to innovate more on your products and solutions. They usually are trying to solve a similar problem for the same set of people. edit: for the more pragmatic, add "Be grateful to your competitors and then have them crushed."
- wensing 17y ago
  In that light (which I think is great), your competitors might not even be web-based!
pedalpete 17y ago
I think when VC's talk competitive advantage they are obviously looking for what sets you apart from the competition, but I suspect they want it framed in such a way that it speaks to the lock-in factor. If your competitive advantage is that you have the best UI, that isn't good enough, because that can be copied. What sets you apart which your competitors can't replicate, or which puts up barriers (assuming you have some market share). Those are my thoughts.
- wensing 17y ago
  Staying on that subject of UI, why hasn't the iPhone UI been successfully copied? Jason Fried has said that "the copier doesn't know why the original looks the way it looks.", therefore superficial imitation is insufficient.
medianama 17y ago
source of sustainable competitive advantage... as they say