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“Every minute I spent thinking about competitors was a minute wasted”

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Re: “Every minute I spent thinking about competitors was a minute wasted”

#61

Post by mythz »

Agree with PG.

I mean I'd love to have the free time to be able sit analyze and strategize against what my competitors are doing, but I'm too busy working on the next place which I believe will add the most value. In the end you'll end up with a different priority/feature-set and USPs that focusing and trying to replicate what your competitors are doing.

IMO the most important thing is to have a solid Customer base, they'll submit an infinite stream of issues/feature requests which will highlight where to focus your efforts on. Although it's also important to have confidence in innovating yourself as my best USPs have come from novel features that no-one has thought to ask for, as you'll pretty much only receive requests for features others have already done.

Re: “Every minute I spent thinking about competitors was a minute wasted”

#62

Post by petra »

xfitm3 wrote: post #29
aboutruby wrote: post #7

Full text is: > At both Viaweb and YC, every minute I spent thinking about competitors was, in retrospect, a minute wasted. Follow-up tweet: > It may be useful for some companies to think about competitors. That's why I didn't phrase it as a general rule. In particular it may be useful for more established companies to. If a startup has to, though, they're probably doomed. Also a quote from Jeff Bezos: > “If you want…

Do you think Jeff’s statement holds true today? I’m under the impression Amazon is less customer centric but maybe I am biased.

I can explain how stuff like co-mingling may be customer centric - it's a necessary trade-off to offer large selection, low price and fast shipping. Maybe.

But Ads ? They only harm customers.

So yes, they're less customer centric.

Re: “Every minute I spent thinking about competitors was a minute wasted”

#64

Post by anonytrary »

anotheryou wrote: post #63

don't you re-invent the wheel a lot if you don't look it other solutions? Especially for things not in your core domain.

On the flipside, look too much at other solutions and your wheel starts looking like theirs.

Re: “Every minute I spent thinking about competitors was a minute wasted”

#65

Post by petra »

mythz wrote: post #61

Agree with PG. I mean I'd love to have the free time to be able sit analyze and strategize against what my competitors are doing, but I'm too busy working on the next place which I believe will add the most value. In the end you'll end up with a different priority/feature-set and USPs that focusing and trying to replicate what your competitors are doing. IMO the most important thing is to have a solid Customer base,…

Yes both users ideas and self generated USP's are important.

But since mostly everything can be copied, doesn't it make sense to build a defensible strategy , building things your competitors will find hard to copy ?

And doesn't looking at competitors helps with that?

Re: “Every minute I spent thinking about competitors was a minute wasted”

#66

Post by anotheryou »

anonytrary wrote: post #64
anotheryou wrote: post #63

don't you re-invent the wheel a lot if you don't look it other solutions? Especially for things not in your core domain.

On the flipside, look too much at other solutions and your wheel starts looking like theirs.

Coming from art I'd say: don't be afraid of stealing a little. What matters in the end is your stroke, polish and focus on it.

Often good solutions even agree. I had it more than once that I build something and than found someone who had build a super similar solution.

I think the fine line for me would be: Don't be obsessed about details and movements of your competitors, don't assume everything they do is good. But check them out for some inspiration.

Actually especially those things you can copy from companies that are not even competitors (other core domain), you really should copy. E.g. check out nice empty-states or registration flows to jump start your first implementation (and than iterate for yourself).

Re: “Every minute I spent thinking about competitors was a minute wasted”

#67

Post by [deleted] »

GuiA wrote: post #9
keyle wrote: post #5

Side jab... hasn't posted on HN since 2015 but regular on Twitter? What gives?

One cements your spot as a “thought leader” (blue verified check, very visible follower/retweet/like count, routinely used as a source by the media), the other not at all.

[deleted]

Re: “Every minute I spent thinking about competitors was a minute wasted”

#69

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

petra wrote: post #62
xfitm3 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think Jeff’s statement holds true today? I’m under the impression Amazon is less customer centric but maybe I am biased.

I can explain how stuff like co-mingling may be customer centric - it's a necessary trade-off to offer large selection, low price and fast shipping. Maybe. But Ads ? They only harm customers. So yes, they're less customer centric.

Amazon is big enough to have internal competition.

And The Customer doesn't have to mean the person who buys stuff from an Amazon listing.

Re: “Every minute I spent thinking about competitors was a minute wasted”

#70

Post by mikemotherwell »

barry-cotter wrote: post #27
keyle wrote: post #5

Side jab... hasn't posted on HN since 2015 but regular on Twitter? What gives?

HN and Twitter both have their dismissive assholes with their “You just invented ... buses.” (or taxes, or taxis, you get the idea) But on Twitter you can block people and you can delete things easily. pg doesn’t write essays any more either, because now he has a hostile audience like with the Information, or when he said if you have a thick accent learn to speak English more clearly or when he said inequality is les…

... or he is jus more interested in raising his kids. I dunno, but that seems a sane choice in an insane world to me.
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