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Zendesk CEO calls Freshdesk a freaking rip off - Freshdesk responds

ripoffornot.org

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Re: Zendesk CEO calls Freshdesk a freaking rip off - Freshdesk responds

#152
post #133
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? It looked to me like he did: http://twitter.com/#!/cloudgroupsyd/status/14253941437406412... You can argue if that apology was enough or if it was a full apology. But I feel like saying "he didn't apologize" is an oversimplification.

I don't know. There's no apology. Just a half assed explanation. Taking my english skills, calling someone an indian cowboy, is saying indians (posers) trying to be cowboys (the real deal). Literally, figuratively, metaphorically is definitely saying more than what it's not. And it's not positive. Instead of discussing facts, @cloudgroupsys' small mindedness to discuss and expose their ignorance (and what likely show…

[deleted]

Re: Zendesk CEO calls Freshdesk a freaking rip off - Freshdesk responds

#153
post #74

HackerNews readers, watch and learn. I'm about deconstruct what is going on. Anybody who brushes off FreshDesk because of its Indian roots is doing FreshDesk a favour. This is a sharp mind at work and it is lethal. FreshDesk is executing the standard modus operandi of upstart against an incumbent. Jobs is a master at it (I'm Apple I'm Microsoft), Calacanis too (remember the SEO controversy, and then the Angel controv…

Can you (or another SEO) comment on why the mini-site is better than just a blog post on their site? Don't they want the PageRank juice for their main site and not the mini-site? Or is the plan to redirect the mini-site at a later date?

SEO is only one factor. The name they registered (on 12/3) is ripoffornot.org - This will help feed (edit: aid) the controversy as well. It's similar to "ripoffreport.com (.org redirects to .com) which is a fairly well know site which people bitch on about companies. On a quick look you see "ripoff..." and you click the link. That's a decent touch in itself.

Re: Zendesk CEO calls Freshdesk a freaking rip off - Freshdesk responds

#155
I'm not arguing for either but trying to state a point. Putting a side-by-side feature list face-off showing you have more features than the incumbent does not in anyway, prove that you are not a rip off. In fact, it probably proves that you are and just trying to outdo the incumbent. There would be little to compare if both were playing in a different area.

Re: Zendesk CEO calls Freshdesk a freaking rip off - Freshdesk responds

#157
post #106
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of stuff, especially Twitter-spamming, really rubs me the wrong way. Some people call it hustle, but I just think it's dirty. I'm much less likely to sign up for FreshDesk in the future if it comes across my desk now.

You should have seen Steve Blank relate his tale with a smile when his Stanford Lean Startup students spammed the faculty in order to achieve some traction. Twitter spamming isn't a business model, but there is one stage of a startup's life when you have to do things that any self respecting person is reluctant to do, but for the survival of the company. Even Balsamiq did that. Over at Mixergy, about a year ago, the…

I wouldn't call emailing bloggers about reviewing your product (given that that's what many of them try to do) something a self respecting person should be reluctant to do. I assume that's what you're referring to with Balsamiq? That's the right way to do it - get the press to give your product some attention because it's really good! Putting up flyers in public places is also fine.

It becomes spamming when you insert an ad for your stuff in a personal place like on the windshield of someone's car, or in someone's twitter client's @ inbox, unless you think it's something they'll legitimately want to hear because they need help that you can offer (this is rare). Predatory customer acquisition from your competitors via spamming is well on the other side of the line. Combined with this reaction site which uses tactics that would be at home in a political smear campaign, and I'm fairly certain that this is a company I don't want to ever do business with.

Re: Zendesk CEO calls Freshdesk a freaking rip off - Freshdesk responds

#158
post #133
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? It looked to me like he did: http://twitter.com/#!/cloudgroupsyd/status/14253941437406412... You can argue if that apology was enough or if it was a full apology. But I feel like saying "he didn't apologize" is an oversimplification.

I don't know. There's no apology. Just a half assed explanation. Taking my english skills, calling someone an indian cowboy, is saying indians (posers) trying to be cowboys (the real deal). Literally, figuratively, metaphorically is definitely saying more than what it's not. And it's not positive. Instead of discussing facts, @cloudgroupsys' small mindedness to discuss and expose their ignorance (and what likely show…

(Just to explain the "Indian Cowboy" thing:

"Cowboy" is a term a developer often uses to describe someone who develops something without thinking it through properly, often fails to test, and ignores the consequences.

It's often used like this: "He's a real cowboy - he wrote a SQL query that he tested on his own machine and then deleted data when he deployed it to production".

You are correct - it is an insulting term in this context.)

Re: Zendesk CEO calls Freshdesk a freaking rip off - Freshdesk responds

#159
post #158
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know. There's no apology. Just a half assed explanation. Taking my english skills, calling someone an indian cowboy, is saying indians (posers) trying to be cowboys (the real deal). Literally, figuratively, metaphorically is definitely saying more than what it's not. And it's not positive. Instead of discussing facts, @cloudgroupsys' small mindedness to discuss and expose their ignorance (and what likely show…

(Just to explain the "Indian Cowboy" thing: "Cowboy" is a term a developer often uses to describe someone who develops something without thinking it through properly, often fails to test, and ignores the consequences. It's often used like this: "He's a real cowboy - he wrote a SQL query that he tested on his own machine and then deleted data when he deployed it to production". You are correct - it is an insulting ter…

Cool, thanks for the additional example.

Cowboy coding should have been super obvious to me, lol.

Re: Zendesk CEO calls Freshdesk a freaking rip off - Freshdesk responds

#160
post #157
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should have seen Steve Blank relate his tale with a smile when his Stanford Lean Startup students spammed the faculty in order to achieve some traction. Twitter spamming isn't a business model, but there is one stage of a startup's life when you have to do things that any self respecting person is reluctant to do, but for the survival of the company. Even Balsamiq did that. Over at Mixergy, about a year ago, the…

I wouldn't call emailing bloggers about reviewing your product (given that that's what many of them try to do) something a self respecting person should be reluctant to do. I assume that's what you're referring to with Balsamiq? That's the right way to do it - get the press to give your product some attention because it's really good! Putting up flyers in public places is also fine. It becomes spamming when you inser…

Listen to Andrew Warner's interview. Peldi talked about approaching people on twitter due early days to try to do sales. He wasn't very successful with the approach, and then went on to try something else.

    I'm fairly certain that this is
    a company I don't want to ever do business with.
That's the respectable side of you talking. If you have a house on the line in your own start up, you'll be crazy not to do everything to give your startup every chance of success.

On a personal level, I loath getting spam as much as everybody else, so please don't spam me!

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