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Comment by frb | Hacker News Reader

With Germany being notorious for its copycats, it's funny to see this in reverse.

Who would have thought that an idea that exists in Germany for almost 10 years would still be great for a startup in the US/Canada.

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Funny that you would say that. There are a lot of us start ups (even yc ones!) that copy companyies/ideas that are proven and established here in Germany. The package stuff s just one example. All the ride sharing start ups that were hyped some time ago basically copy "mitfahrgelegenheit.de" ( now the company s known as carpooling) wh have been dong this for nearly ten years now. Public bike sharing is another example.

It's easy to just blame rocket Internet and pretend like that's all of German innovation/startp scene. Packaging and bike sharing weren't even pioneered by startups but by huge formerly state owned companies who are Slow and boring n the Public eye

I agree that Germany is not all about copycats. Thanks to the Samwers and others this perception was created. If you visit places like Silicon Valley and say you're from Germany you can be sure to find someone who will "make a joke" about Germany and startup copycats.

What irritates me is that nobody seems to point out these reverse cases, where others copy German innovation/ideas.

Also I'm wondering why these positive German examples didn't really scale internationally? Why didn't DHL roll out Packstation in the US? (Big company policies and lack of innovation?) Why has Mitfahrgelegenheit/Carpooling needed almost 8 years to launch in Europe? Why hasn't it launched in the US?

Just really wondering about the different perception and mindsets of US and German startups...

Germans are pretty conservative. There was a successful German startup that I looked at, that bragged about how cash flow positive they were. I said FFS, why? In the US in a high growth startup land grab type business, you would put all the cash back into the business to grow it as fast as possible, including internationally, instead of hoarding it and bragging about how solid and conservative you are.

Different values? Maybe they're happy with what they've got and don't need to risk it all for a very small improvement in their already fantastic lifestyle? I'm not criticizing founders who decide to go for it all, but I definitely wouldn't look down on a small but successful business like their clueless.

I personally find the profitable and sustainable business model way more attractive than the grow for the sake of growth model.

Sometimes the only defensible market position is #1. it's a natural winner-take-all market with strong network effects.

You could end up #1 in Germany against a #2 who is #1 in the rest of the EU - when by moving faster you could have been #1 in the entire EU.

Sure, this makes sense some times. Other times it may turn a profitable business into a spectacular and over-hyped failure.

In my limited experience, DHL in the US (formerly Airborne Express) doesn't know its ass from its elbow, and is a shambling testament to union sloth and inefficiency. Perhaps things are different in DE?

The Germans are the leading industrial nation of the world, so it's not surprising that for a startup in this field US is the copy-cat.

P.S. I'm defining industrial as 'the manipulation and enrichment of physical goods' for the purpose of this comment.

Really? You might enjoy reading this article: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-02-29/the-germany-...

That's why I explicitly mentioned "manipulation and enrichment of physical goods"

Notorious for its copycats? Can you explain this? I don't know what you are referring to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Internet

I don't get it, this is just one example.

But a huge one.

The big difference between Rocket & BufferBox/Amazon is the implementation of the idea. Rocket doesn't just take an awesome idea and bring it home, they CLONE the initial product, usually copying layout and look & feel. It's this cloning action that draws the ire of the tech world, not the fact that they take international ideas and implement them locally.

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