Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing

#1

Post by sophmonroe » Tue, Mar 01, 2011, 5:46 PM UTC

Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing
wepay.com

Re: Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing

#2

Post by silverbax88 » Tue, Mar 01, 2011, 6:09 PM UTC

I'm not sure if Richard Branson is really a 'little guy' taking on an 800-lb gorilla, but the idea of taking on competition by actively inciting them has worked many times.

It would be especially effective when:

- you are able to gain significant attention (press, viral) over your comments/attack

- the 800 lb gorilla doesn't even know you are attacking it

Re: Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing

#3

Post by jdp23 » Tue, Mar 01, 2011, 6:21 PM UTC

Great description of when they realized how valuable the comparison with PayPal could be: "The first time we actively embraced the PayPal comparison was when PayPal froze the account of the Flux foundation – a non-profit arts organization – just a few days before the Flux Crew headed to the desert to build their famous Temple at Burning Man.

The Flux Foundation and a bunch of other people and organizations collecting donations ended up turning to WePay in protest (and in desperation). Our pitch was easy: yes, you can use WePay instead of PayPal. WePay.com is better than PayPal for collecting donations, and we won’t freeze your accounts.

After that, people started referring to us as the consumer-friendly or “community-oriented” version of PayPal. CNN actually referred to us as the anti-PayPal."

Re: Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing

#4

Post by jscore » Tue, Mar 01, 2011, 6:40 PM UTC

I hope I'm not alone, but it's impossible for me to differentiate what you do versus as something already provided by PayPal.

PayPal was revolutionary, but WePay seems something that PayPal already provides.

Borland (with their IDEs and Quattro) taking on Microsoft is akin to a little-guy taking on a 800lb gorilla.

I fail to see the parallel here.

Re: Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing

#5

Post by aberman » Tue, Mar 01, 2011, 6:55 PM UTC

jscore wrote: post #4

I hope I'm not alone, but it's impossible for me to differentiate what you do versus as something already provided by PayPal. PayPal was revolutionary, but WePay seems something that PayPal already provides. Borland (with their IDEs and Quattro) taking on Microsoft is akin to a little-guy taking on a 800lb gorilla. I fail to see the parallel here.

I'm not sure which comments to answer first: The ones that say WePay is nothing like PayPal and the comparison is misleading, or the ones that say WePay is just a feature of PayPal and therefore undifferentiated.

We'll just keep building the product and let people decide for themselves.

Not the best video in the world, but check this out: http://vimeo.com/18765571

If you were to make a demo video of PayPal, what would you show?

Re: Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing

#6

Post by bpeters » Tue, Mar 01, 2011, 7:19 PM UTC

silverbax88 wrote: post #2

I'm not sure if Richard Branson is really a 'little guy' taking on an 800-lb gorilla, but the idea of taking on competition by actively inciting them has worked many times. It would be especially effective when: - you are able to gain significant attention (press, viral) over your comments/attack - the 800 lb gorilla doesn't even know you are attacking it

He is an 800-lb gorilla that thinks he is stronger than all the other 800-lb gorillas.

Always interesting to see two beasts battle.

Re: Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing

#7

Post by rumpelstiltskin » Tue, Mar 01, 2011, 7:49 PM UTC

Still doesn't help individuals selling products online and are stuck using paypal and risking having their accounts frozen.

Re: Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing

#8

Post by mcantor » Tue, Mar 01, 2011, 8:06 PM UTC

   It's also not easy for big companies to change course, add
   features, iterate, or experiment. PayPal can't simply decide
   to shift its focus toward consumers, nor would they want to.

This reminds me of an outstanding article I read some time ago which advised: "Attack your competitors' strengths, not their weaknesses." In other words, WePay might have failed if their goal was (for example) just to provide better customer service, PayPal's weakness. This is because PayPal could ostensibly improve their customer service without affecting their bottom line. Merchant-oriented services are PayPal's strength, and WePay "attacked" that strength by catering to non-merchants, which, as the article states, they could not do without a core shift in values and focus.

Re: Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing

#9

Post by aberman » Tue, Mar 01, 2011, 8:08 PM UTC

rumpelstiltskin wrote: post #7

Still doesn't help individuals selling products online and are stuck using paypal and risking having their accounts frozen.

stay tuned...

Re: Picking a fight with an 800 lb gorilla, startup marketing

#10

Post by JonLim » Tue, Mar 01, 2011, 8:34 PM UTC

I posted this as a comment on the blog, but it kind of disappeared... so whatever.

I mentioned that sometimes the 800 pound gorilla isn't as slow or bureaucratic as you would think. With PostageApp, we have several large competitors (SendGrid and MailChimp) and they are frighteningly good at pivoting and offering new and exciting features.

I'm having a really fun time watching the developments of all the players in our industry. If you can take something away from fighting with the 800 pound gorillas, it's that you will learn a lot.