Re:37 Signals hates competition
by briansmith on Wednesday June 11, 2008 @07:48PM
(#215476)
Sometimes you can piggyback of your competitors. See "How Starbucks Actually Helps Mom & Pop Coffee Shops": http://www.slate.com/id/2180301/
Re:37 Signals hates competition
by extantproject on Wednesday June 11, 2008 @06:54PM
(#215420)
Competitors do validate your market. That doesn't mean you like them (e.g. http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/).
You're doing it wrong if it becomes a grudge match. See http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/03/the_art_of_driv.html
(Yes, I am aware that Guy Kawasaki marketed the Apple MacIntosh at launch.)
Not true. A struggling business dislikes competition. A healthy business likes competition. A competitor validates your market and frames a choice. With a competitor, a customer doesn't just have the choice of buying from A or not. A customer now has to consider buying from A or B (or buying nothing). When you've got dozens of competitors, you've got a market.