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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”

#161

Post by madaxe_again »

cpeterso wrote: post #156
madaxe_again wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. I’ve just spent a few days with a client who is in a bit of a fluster, as they feel their business (ten years, eight people, very healthy revenue & profit with huge blue-chip clients) is under threat from a new VC backed competitor. I said to think of it differently - that the new competitor is so inefficient and unsure about what they are doing that they need a $100M safety blanket. Some will be dazzled by the…

The emergence of a new VC-backed competitor also validates your client's business.

Sure, that’s true - although the client didn’t need telling that, as they already know they’re onto a good thing - their flagship clients and steering group are industry leaders.

Either way, they went away bubbly and excited about the prospect of grinding their cocksure new competitor into sparkly dust!

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

#163

Post by overwhelm »

dazbradbury wrote: post #98

Funny - I have an email from pg from 2011 where YC didn't fund OpenRent [1] due to our competitors being too dominant. As head strong (and certainly naiive) young founders at the time, we continued with our vision anyway. Thankfully we have gone on to become by far the largest rental agency in the uk, and have driven real change (see tenant fees ban) in the industry. I mention this as when it comes to investment deci…

That's a surprisingly strong data point in favour of pg's tweet. Not only was time wasted, it sounds like money was lost too.

Congratulations on sticking it through!

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

#164

Post by dazbradbury »

overwhelm wrote: post #163
dazbradbury wrote: post #98

Funny - I have an email from pg from 2011 where YC didn't fund OpenRent [1] due to our competitors being too dominant. As head strong (and certainly naiive) young founders at the time, we continued with our vision anyway. Thankfully we have gone on to become by far the largest rental agency in the uk, and have driven real change (see tenant fees ban) in the industry. I mention this as when it comes to investment deci…

That's a surprisingly strong data point in favour of pg's tweet. Not only was time wasted, it sounds like money was lost too. Congratulations on sticking it through!

We're profitable, and still growing...

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

#165

Post by Old_Thrashbarg »

hopler wrote: post #155
Old_Thrashbarg wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the tech world's use of the word "commodity" is interesting. "becoming a commodity" really means "fail to establish a monopoly".

That's what commodity means in economics, up to the level of precision implied by your statement. www.investopedia.com/terms/c/commodity.asp

I think most people understand commodity as things like: iron ore, sugar, rice, chemicals, raw materials.

For example, take a Toyota Prius. Most people would not think of that as a commodity. It also is not a monopoly. If Toyota Prius where a software tech startup, they would be bemoaning the fact that they have become a "commodity" (read: it's become a competitive market where consumers have choice between differentiated goods).

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