Ask HN: Do you hate your competitors?
Hate is a powerful word. When you think of a competitor what emotion pops up?
Of one, I have much respect. They act like a real company (they are the only vc-backed co. among us), are pleasant when we chat, and we even send referrals to one-another when a potential client isn't a "good fit".
Of another, I feel a mix of anger and indifference. They are a horribly run company and I honestly marvel at the fact they have not imploded yet. Anger because they treat their customers so poorly (numerous BBB complaints and forum/Twitter rants).
Of another, confusion and mistrust. This (more recent) competitor was once a known name working in the industry who then moved on to the workshop circuit and eventually selling competing software/services. While we've had a decent relationship in the past and he positions himself as a Christian & a helper in the industry, he's also very careless with his mouth(IMO). He'll jump at any opportunity to publish disparaging things about competitors, including blatant non-truths.
I know the startup thing to do is not focus on competitors and worry about your products ... which we do ... but at the same I don't ignore them. And I'm definitely not the type to sit by and do nothing if a competitor is going to play dirty. I won't drop to their level but I will defend/reply and make sure they look like a fool.
Needless to say, ours is a weird industry.
It's human to feel threatened, to take offence, to mistrust, and misjudge. Even people who try to be noble tend to do it, however there seem to be great benefits for people (like yourselves) who can put themselves in a position to learn from their competition. Thanks for sharing.
I think Tim is a pretty nice guy. I'd buy him a beer.
According to this, they have to ask their users what they do. I find it hilarious.
But when you first discover a new one who's doing a better job its always a downer. Founders can get really depressed when a better-funded competitor comes out of stealth one day. The lowest lows I've experienced on startup projects routinely stem from the first 24hrs after we've discovered a new competitor. Especially when the CEO gets spooked there can be crazy emails, spec changes, scared/angry all-hands meetings etc.
"Years ago, I used to watch competitors go down and celebrate. Now, they're dropping like flies, and we all need to fight to stay open"
Now, his situations pretty specific, but I think what he's saying is that without competition, you are left alone and vulnerable.Competition is healthy and necessary, so you shouldn't hate them. You should even help them if they're in trouble.
In many ways, your competitors are what's standing in the way of your success. You can tell yourself that you are trying to outdo yourself, but I don't think that Tiger Woods' primary motivation on the course is beating his last score. Beating another person is more deeply rooted in the human psyche.
Now, there are really only two paths to growth for a company: grow the market, or take share from your competitors. Even growing the market is normally in some sense taking business from other players in your segment. For example, if you grow a music business some of that is probably going to eat into other forms of entertainment. Witness the rise of the video games industry. And in many cases, the path to expanding the market is unclear or you do not have the skill to execute it, so the only thing left is to take business away from your competitors.
It's possible you could do that while still bearing them personal good-will. But I suspect that the human brain is going to experience a lot of cognitive dissonance in trying to say that on the one hand you like the people but on the other hand you're fine with hurting them or even putting them out of business. This is probably true even with the rationalization that you're doing what's best for the customer (which is not always true).
IMO you have a real problem when your employees stop emotionally disliking your competitors on average. That means that their products are so much better than yours that they overcome the natural distaste for "the enemy" or, even more reptilian, "the man who wants to eat the food that I want to eat." (That's why I think Google doesn't have much hope in the social space, because internally there's very little ill-will towards Facebook or Twitter. Apple is more of a contest.)
So if Steve Ballmer = Microsoft, then sure, Microsoft hates their competitors. But if not, then no, they don't.
I'm currently looking for a blue ocean strategy that will erase any competition, but regardless, I hope we all eat well.