alt Hacker NewsThat's a genuine problem now. If you launch a new feature and your competition can ship their own copy a few hours later the competitive dynamics get really challenging!
My hunch is that the thing that's going to matter is network effects and other forms of soft lockin. Features alone won't cut it - you need to build something where value accumulates to your user over time in a way that discourages them from leaving.
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verdverm • today at 6:06 PM
Marketing and brand are still the most important, though I personally hope for a world where business is more indie and less winner take all
You can see the first waves of this trend in HN new.
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The interesting part about that is both of those things require some sort of time to start.
If I launch a new product, and 4 hours later competitors pop up, then there's not enough time for network effects or lockin.
I'm guessing what is really going to be needed is something that can't be just copied. Non-public data, business contracts, something outside of software.