The game has changed, you now need that huge feature list, you now need that top notch design etc. Why would someone use your product with all the features missing, when they can use another free product that already has those features?
Apple launched a phone that couldn't MMS, couldn't have applications on it, couldn't copy and paste.
Even take Mint.com, they started out with just a pie chart and one bank - it was only afterwards they got ever so clever.
If you pick pretty much any big success story and chart the different between them when they got big and where they are now, there are massive differences.
Often a lot of the features only make sense when you're big and popular, and I think many start ups design for them prematurely.
That was my point.
If you try to go after Mint now, coming out with just one bank and a crappy design won't get you anywhere.
Sure you can release, but you won't get the right level of adoption, until you catch up to your competitors.
I don't know, but that makes a lot of sense to me...
Somehow, someone saw a niche that this gigantic tools failed to address.
The beauty of the startup is that if you focus on the right micro-segment (aka a niche), you can grow very quickly and eventually topple the incumbent Goliaths.
How has "the game" changed that now you need certain features and you didn't back then, whenever then was?
Why would everyone need all those features that is on "that huge feature list"? Not everyone needs the same things.