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“Is your startup idea taken?” and why we love X for Y startups

andrewchen.co

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Re: “Is your startup idea taken?” and why we love X for Y startups

#161

Post by MuffinFlavored »

robomartin wrote: post #56

Very often engineering types can only think of differentiation in technical terms. I think I can say that, in practice, at least in mature markets, differentiation is more about positioning and marketing rather than almost anything else. Easy examples: - Cars - Bottled water - Computer monitors The vast majority of automobiles produced today have reached a level of design and manufacturing maturity that makes them pr…

> How do they differentiate and sell you cars then? Branding, positioning, marketing.

If I'm in the market for a BMW M3, it is because it is a stellar performance car. A Toyota Camry does not fill those roles.

Re: “Is your startup idea taken?” and why we love X for Y startups

#162

Post by p1necone »

robomartin wrote: post #56

Very often engineering types can only think of differentiation in technical terms. I think I can say that, in practice, at least in mature markets, differentiation is more about positioning and marketing rather than almost anything else. Easy examples: - Cars - Bottled water - Computer monitors The vast majority of automobiles produced today have reached a level of design and manufacturing maturity that makes them pr…

Eh, all cars meet minimum safety standards and will get you to and from wherever you want to go, but they aren't equivalent. Just like I could probably go to the supermarket and buy any random item from the butchery department and cook it and it would stop me from being hungry for the night but I definitely wouldn't say that food items from the butchery department only differ in "branding, positioning, marketing" though. Likewise those are not the only things that matter in the car market.

Re: “Is your startup idea taken?” and why we love X for Y startups

#163

Post by fishingisfun »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #161
robomartin wrote: post #56

Very often engineering types can only think of differentiation in technical terms. I think I can say that, in practice, at least in mature markets, differentiation is more about positioning and marketing rather than almost anything else. Easy examples: - Cars - Bottled water - Computer monitors The vast majority of automobiles produced today have reached a level of design and manufacturing maturity that makes them pr…

> How do they differentiate and sell you cars then? Branding, positioning, marketing. If I'm in the market for a BMW M3, it is because it is a stellar performance car. A Toyota Camry does not fill those roles.

compare it to an AMG

Re: “Is your startup idea taken?” and why we love X for Y startups

#164

Post by yellowapple »

robomartin wrote: post #56

Very often engineering types can only think of differentiation in technical terms. I think I can say that, in practice, at least in mature markets, differentiation is more about positioning and marketing rather than almost anything else. Easy examples: - Cars - Bottled water - Computer monitors The vast majority of automobiles produced today have reached a level of design and manufacturing maturity that makes them pr…

While I agree wholeheartedly with your core point, it's worth noting that (for example) not all car manufacturers make 4WD/AWD vehicles. Even fewer make all-electric vehicles. Even fewer make vehicles that are both 4WD/AWD and all-electric. So there's at least some degree of technical differentiation there.

Re: “Is your startup idea taken?” and why we love X for Y startups

#165

Post by icebraining »

magashna wrote: post #113

20000 startup ideas - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21112345 Seems people found this pretty funny when it was posted >> Document software defects, using hand and horn signals.

Those "ideas" are just occupations, as categorized by the US federal government, called "Standard Occupational Classification System".

Re: “Is your startup idea taken?” and why we love X for Y startups

#167

Post by nimvlaj30 »

jonfw wrote: post #4

I searched a startup name in a seperate tab, came back and had an inescapable subscribe screen. If your going to attempt to hold the rest of the article hostage pending a subscription to your newsletter, at least let me get interested first. This is both hostile and ineffective- and unsurprisingly is the most amusing part of the website

I know this isn't an option for everyone, but I've been loving browsing the internet with Javascript off on Safari.

I also have Firefox with Javascript turned on, in case I need to browse a website I trust with Javascript.

Re: “Is your startup idea taken?” and why we love X for Y startups

#169

Post by SkyPuncher »

xur17 wrote: post #159
SkyPuncher wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly the point. I tend to avoid Kroger brands because I do not like that most of their sale prices are dictated by having a Kroger Card. I'm not particularly price conscientious and find Kroger has a great selection and quality. I simply choose elsewhere when I can.

> I tend to avoid Kroger brands because I do not like that most of their sale prices are dictated by having a Kroger Card. Aren't most grocery chains like this?

Not in my area. Most of them only offer a discount on gas with their grocery card.

Re: “Is your startup idea taken?” and why we love X for Y startups

#170

Post by [deleted] »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #161
robomartin wrote: post #56

Very often engineering types can only think of differentiation in technical terms. I think I can say that, in practice, at least in mature markets, differentiation is more about positioning and marketing rather than almost anything else. Easy examples: - Cars - Bottled water - Computer monitors The vast majority of automobiles produced today have reached a level of design and manufacturing maturity that makes them pr…

> How do they differentiate and sell you cars then? Branding, positioning, marketing. If I'm in the market for a BMW M3, it is because it is a stellar performance car. A Toyota Camry does not fill those roles.

[deleted]
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