DocuSign, with $230M in funding, why are you copying HelloSign? | Hacker News Reader

DocuSign, with $230M in funding, why are you copying HelloSign?

blog.hellosign.com

Well, to answer your question, they have all the funding but no ability to innovate, so like every other large company, they chose to copy what already works. Their money is better spent on getting big clients with deep pockets, then to worry about UX. Clearly, this is not a good reason on your end, but they can, so they do.

I'm sorry people copied your work. I've been there, and I know how frustrating it can be. But you should probably just get over it. This is the reality of the tech world. Good ideas that are easy to copy will be copied.

I'm not above a few snarky remarks when it happens, but I think there's very little to gain (and potentially something to lose) from trying to get your customers or the Internet at large upset about it. People that copy often don't really understand the nuance of how things work anyway, so the copy is often worse than the original. Just keep making better products.

Just blogged this; I'd encourage others to do the same. When building a product first time use is key, it's part of the brand, and it's generally an outcome of a lot of hard work. Not saying this is illegal but it sure is shady. I hope the guys at Hellosign pummel DocuSign the way it counts, by winning the market.

That sucks, but unfortunately your best bet is probably to keep quiet and not make a fuss about it.

Obviously DocuSign has looked at the HelloSign experience and decided that it's good. That's great, because it means you've had 18 months' headstart on your competitors with a more effective onboarding experience. You can't ask for better validation!

You can't build a SaaS service and expect your competitors to sit back and not copy your best ideas. There's no actual IP infringement here, so there's nothing you can do, and that's the nature of competition!

I can't blame you for a bit of snark, but honestly – just drop it. Complaining about competitors copying, and trying to drum up a social media campaign, comes off as extremely childish at best. Just focus on building a better product, and leave it at that.

I agree not much can be done, but why drop it? Getting some free press to the tune of "get great features 18 months earlier by switching to HelloSign" can't hurt and writing a blog post only takes a few hours.

I'm lost as to the mentality of, "Just drop it." Why just drop it? Recently, I had to bring legal action against an ex-employer for breaking the law. His advice after he fired me was also, "Just drop it, because the valley is a small place." D@amn straight it's a small place, so if you're going to out and out clone a competitor, you should also expect to see the mob of villagers arrive with pitchforks and torches. Seriously.

WTF. I am glad you are calling them out. I hope the tech press picks it up ...

Looking at the alleged copying, I note a few issues, one is that by the essential nature of the business, these pages must appear similar in some fashion. "Who needs to sign" is fairly generic and an essential question related to the core business, both of which you are in.

I can see a world where both of these designs were raised in a vacuum and came to similar conclusions.

Well, their product has been around for years, and until now was completely different (shown in the article).

Is this for real? I can't tell if it's satire...

Joseph here, cofounder of HelloSign.

Yes, it’s true.

And so what? They are copying, most of the companies out there copy each other. Copy is also part of innovation. It's OK to shout against copyright and it's wrong to copy a SaaS service? Really?

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