Re:Ask HN: What Went Wrong at SilentCircle and Blackphone
by adnanazadsg on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @05:58PM
(#19733357)
I think it was a combination of:
-People don't value privacy as much - outside of a niche.
-Building hardware companies is hard. Its harder when you're competing against big brands like Apple and Google. Its really really hard when you're trying to displace something as personal as a smartphone.
-There were key strengths missing in design, branding and marketing which counts for a lot.
Something thats less ambitious might have succeeded, but this seemed like an all or nothing play.
-People don't value privacy as much - outside of a niche.
-Building hardware companies is hard. Its harder when you're competing against big brands like Apple and Google. Its really really hard when you're trying to displace something as personal as a smartphone.
-There were key strengths missing in design, branding and marketing which counts for a lot.
Something thats less ambitious might have succeeded, but this seemed like an all or nothing play.