Comments on: Competition http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/ My rants, ramblings, and random thoughts Tue, 25 May 2010 14:48:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: makale http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/comment-page-1/#comment-7623 makale Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:10:33 +0000 http://jonefox.com/blog/?p=152#comment-7623 <a href="http://www.makale.tk" target="_blank">makale</a> thanks very good beatifull cominga sites makale thanks very good beatifull cominga sites

]]> By: ali http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/comment-page-1/#comment-6798 ali Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:05:06 +0000 http://jonefox.com/blog/?p=152#comment-6798 <a href="http://www.oyunekibi.com" target="_blank">oyun</a> thanks very good beatifull oyun thanks very good beatifull

]]> By: kadirs http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/comment-page-1/#comment-6797 kadirs Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:04:35 +0000 http://jonefox.com/blog/?p=152#comment-6797 <a href="http://www.oyunekibi.com" target="_blank">oyun</a> oyun

]]> By: sxe http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/comment-page-1/#comment-5325 sxe Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:06:29 +0000 http://jonefox.com/blog/?p=152#comment-5325 <a href="http://www.sxetr.tk" target="_blank">http://www.sxetr.tk</a> http://www.sxetr.tk

]]> By: Mark http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/comment-page-1/#comment-756 Mark Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:41:42 +0000 http://jonefox.com/blog/?p=152#comment-756 in terms of competition, if your chasing you shall never catch but if you stop chasing and start thinking new ideas, getting feedback from your customers and genuinely listening to what the public are demanding you shall over take any competitor. in terms of competition, if your chasing you shall never catch but if you stop chasing and start thinking new ideas, getting feedback from your customers and genuinely listening to what the public are demanding you shall over take any competitor.

]]> By: jon http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/comment-page-1/#comment-755 jon Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:15:07 +0000 http://jonefox.com/blog/?p=152#comment-755 It’s easy to get distracted by your competitors. When you’re in an emerging space in particular, you constantly feel the strain of every success that your competitors have. Your instinct is to prevent this by knowing what your competitors are up to and then beat or match them on all fronts so that they no longer have an advantage over you. Unfortunately, this never works. If you’re chasing the competition you’ll never pass them - by definition really. How can you ever beat the competition if you’re always just trying to match or beat them at their own game? In the end this will stress the team and you’ll always be #2 (or worse) in your space. Not a good solution… So what should you do about competition? Ignore them. Ignore them as much as possible. Ultimately you should listen to your user base to determine the direction you should take, not your competition. In some cases your users will tell you that they want a feature your competitor has…great! Give it to them. The key thing though is that you only provide them with the features they ask for. In a weird way this actually makes you more efficient because if your competitors come up with a really great feature you’re still aware of it and can integrate some version of it into your own product(s). On the other hand though, if they waste their time on a feature that turns out to be a flop, you never need to worry about it (since presumably your users won’t push for this) and you don’t have to waste the resources to develop the stuff that didn’t work out. It’s easy to get distracted by your competitors. When you’re in an emerging space in particular, you constantly feel the strain of every success that your competitors have. Your instinct is to prevent this by knowing what your competitors are up to and then beat or match them on all fronts so that they no longer have an advantage over you.

Unfortunately, this never works.

If you’re chasing the competition you’ll never pass them – by definition really. How can you ever beat the competition if you’re always just trying to match or beat them at their own game? In the end this will stress the team and you’ll always be #2 (or worse) in your space. Not a good solution…

So what should you do about competition? Ignore them. Ignore them as much as possible. Ultimately you should listen to your user base to determine the direction you should take, not your competition. In some cases your users will tell you that they want a feature your competitor has…great! Give it to them. The key thing though is that you only provide them with the features they ask for. In a weird way this actually makes you more efficient because if your competitors come up with a really great feature you’re still aware of it and can integrate some version of it into your own product(s). On the other hand though, if they waste their time on a feature that turns out to be a flop, you never need to worry about it (since presumably your users won’t push for this) and you don’t have to waste the resources to develop the stuff that didn’t work out.

]]> By: Ben Atlas http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/comment-page-1/#comment-754 Ben Atlas Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:27:06 +0000 http://jonefox.com/blog/?p=152#comment-754 There is a positive aspect of competition that is often ignored. Especially in the open source world. And last I checked Automatic the parent of ID is where it is today because of the open source. You can learn a lot from what others are doing this saves tremendous amount of trial and error time. Cross pollination is king! There is a positive aspect of competition that is often ignored. Especially in the open source world. And last I checked Automatic the parent of ID is where it is today because of the open source. You can learn a lot from what others are doing this saves tremendous amount of trial and error time. Cross pollination is king!

]]> By: Jon http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/comment-page-/#comment-752 Jon Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:45:48 +0000 http://jonefox.com/blog/?p=152#comment-752 Well, as I said in the post, I think people at the planning and strategy level should be aware of the competition to best maximize the opportunities available to you in the market. My advice is for the average guy (and the general company culture) to generally ignore the competition, as a focus on your competitors as a company culture rarely leads to any positive results. Well, as I said in the post, I think people at the planning and strategy level should be aware of the competition to best maximize the opportunities available to you in the market. My advice is for the average guy (and the general company culture) to generally ignore the competition, as a focus on your competitors as a company culture rarely leads to any positive results.

]]> By: db0 http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/comment-page-1/#comment-751 db0 Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:37:54 +0000 http://jonefox.com/blog/?p=152#comment-751 Well put. I find it especially annoying how the IntenseDebate has a very vocal minority about the Facebook connect. Many of these people are technogeeks who just need to have the latest shiny tech to show off on their blog and they end up playing the importance of it up tenfold. Glad to see you playing the game right ;) Well put. I find it especially annoying how the IntenseDebate has a very vocal minority about the Facebook connect. Many of these people are technogeeks who just need to have the latest shiny tech to show off on their blog and they end up playing the importance of it up tenfold.

Glad to see you playing the game right ;)

]]> By: arinewman http://jonefox.com/blog/2009/01/13/competition/comment-page-1/#comment-750 arinewman Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:32:13 +0000 http://jonefox.com/blog/?p=152#comment-750 I think I get what you are trying to say, but I disagree with your advice about ignoring the competition. Sure, running a business where you are more focused on trying to cover every move of your rivals is no strategy at all, but ignoring them? Really? I think I get what you are trying to say, but I disagree with your advice about ignoring the competition. Sure, running a business where you are more focused on trying to cover every move of your rivals is no strategy at all, but ignoring them? Really?

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