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Comment by Tinyyy | Hacker News Reader

I don't understand how this can survive in the long run - what's stopping someone else from setting up an identical service at lower prices? There is literally no lock in because users can sign up for multiple services and potentially pay a lower price (depends on which one snags the domain).

Or is the technology behind that unique?

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Does it really matter how long it lasts in the long run if he's making $125,000 a month by himself?

Coming up with a good startup idea is sexy, but this is a pretty sweet deal too. You could argue that hours spent working on this prevent him from working on something that's potentially more lucrative and more fun, but from the sound of it he's at a point where it takes up much less time than a full-time job.

Even if he can only milk $1 million off of it, that's still really good.

Yes only 1 million. It might just be worth him getting put of bed.

If you think such a thing that easy, you should do it. But it aint.

I'm not trying to be dismissive of his impressive project, but from my perspective, or from a business point of view, it doesn't make sense. While I have no doubts that this was nontrivial to create, history has shown that raw technology alone is rarely enough. Isn't trying to gain some form of lock-in an oft repeated point on HN?

Also, could you elaborate? I do wish to understand why, if I was wrong.

What kind of lock-in do you get from starting a convenience store? A repair shop? A McDonald's franchise? Those can all be quite profitable and provide an excellent living.

Simply because competing with him may be "easy," doesn't make the business model any less valid.

The same could be said for almost any service.

So what if it doesn't survive in the long run? Strike while the iron is hot, move on to something else when it cools.

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