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Ask HN: Do you worry that your product will be killed by one of the tech giants?

8 points by shanwang ↗ HN
Today Google released Google trips https://get.google.com/trips

Not to say it's definitely going to be successful, but it must be a bad news for people building travel apps.

These days big companies like Google and microsoft roll out small products like trips from time to time, with so many resources to spare, they have a bigger chance to succeed than startups.

If you are building a internet product, do you worry that one day a tech giant will crash you? If so what can you do about it?

16 comments

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p333347
Not at all. It seems these bigcos in their desire to diversify either produce an inferior version of pre existing hit software which will eventually fizzle out (or kept under life support), or simply buy out a viable competitor to the said pre existing hit software. So, unless you are trying to compete with bigcos' A game software products, you shouldn't worry. I don't. One might even look to create a viable competitor and seek a buyout, enjoy the spoils for a while and move on to next idea. Again, I don't.
mrg3_2013
I do. This may not be popular opinion - but the mere fact that they can build what you can after you have "proved" the market for them is always risky IMO. Ofcourse, bigcos may not be able as nimble as you are - so there's hope. Incidentally, I asked a question today due to the fear of same thing.
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
codegeek
I wouldn't hold my breath with google. Lets see:

- Google Wave (dead)

- Google talk (dead)

- Google Voice (dead)

- Google trips (...._

If anything, google may offer to buy you out if they like your product good enough. So if that counts as being killed, then yea may be.

dhruvkar
Is Google Voice considered dead?

It's been my primary number for ~4 years now, and yes, it's not 100% reliable (spotty forwarding once in a while), it's still serving me well.

recmend
Do not worry about things that you don't control. Our job as innovators is to find opportunities that we believe in and give our best, independent of the outcome. Moreover, Tech giants cannot focus and move as fast as a tiny startup.
endswapper
Couldn't agree with this more, "Do not worry about things that you don't control."

And I'd like to add that there are plenty of things to worry about. Channel your energy there.

shanwang
In theory you are right, but in reality, when you are faced with multiple choices of startup ideas, shouldn't this be a major factor on deciding which one to act on?
endswapper
No.

The market, and your understanding of it, should be a major factor. The fact that 800 pound gorillas have more resources is just an excuse to not do something.

Besides, those resources could just as easily be used to acquire your idea if you do it better.

cureyourhead
But you can control it. Adopt a strategy resilient to big company interference. Don't think of yourself as a fake victim of big companies. There's always things you can do. Have you forgotten the even basic lessons of MS vs IBM, you fucking idiots?
shanwang
watch your language
[dead] cureyourhead
FUCK OFF. watch your baseless privilege. imposing your fake idea of language standard on others. Free expression or have you fucking forgotten it shanwang...FUCKING idiot. You think your standing up for civil society but you're actually undermining it. let me explain it to you, you fucking idiot. i'm not asking you to talk to me...if you don't like the way i talk you don't have to drop under my comment. I can talk however I want and you can't do anything about it. Funny thing is it will take you 10000 years to realize that telling someone how they should or shouldn't, and thinking you have a right to dictate that, is a worse imposition than telling someone how you feel about them and saying FUCK. So you think you're in the right, but actually by acting entitled to dictate behaviour to others, you put yourself in the wrong. By trying to be in the right you actually end up imposing on others. If you like that sort of thing...maybe go join Daesh, cut out a few tongues for blasphemy, that should sate your appetite for telling others what to do. DO you get it now? You fucking idiot. Fuck off. I feel better now. aaa....you don't like what I say? Why'd you walk into the lion's den...Your puny standard is no match for free expression. Learn that. aaa. Trust your own heart. Stop being a lemming. Your lesson is concluded. You may go now. No fee required. This time.

lesson 2 --- and seriously. why don't you respond to something else rather than this. even in this comment there are good points beside language. you criticise the language but that is what you respond to and thus emphasize. respond to the things of value to make a useful contribution. ignore what is not your taste unless you wish to emphasize that. you pretend to make a useful contribution by criticising what you find distasteful, but actually you just end up emphasizing what you already assume is useless, instead of making a useful contribution -- thus doing the same thing you pretend to be criticising.

sctb
We've banned this account.
toast0
Google releasing their product brings visibility to the market. If you have a travel app, now ou can say "it's like google trips, but we launched last year" and people will have some idea because of the google hype cycle. Instead of saying "it's like yahoo travel trip planner, except we didn't shut down"
taprun
The more specific your audience, the less likely that a big company will replicate your solution.

Building a faster database? You're going to get clobbered.

Building a better system for managing small postage stamp collections? You're probably safe.

irremediable
I'm not in a start-up at the minute, and I should make it clear that I've not yet worked in a senior role at one. That said, I feel like most start-ups would be happy to reach the level of success where this is a problem!