

Ask HN: What do you think about cloning startups? - brserc

Let&#x27;s say a startup company is offering a service to other companies in U.S. and becomes succesful. I want to do the same work they do in U.S. in France.<p>Both in legal and ethical terms do you think this is a good thing to do?
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olivierduval
Ethical? Not a business term... juste forget it if you want to succeed... ;)

Legal? Well... it's all about (international) patents. Is the business of the
startup patented? Or even patentable? Seem not realistic (but some folks
patented the "one-click-buy button")... Will you copy the tools or methods
(that are more easily patentable... but need to be patented "worldwide"... ;)
)? Or can you try something more "french" ?

All in all, your problem will be to move faster and be better for your market
than teh startup you're copying. Because they will come if they succeed,
sooner or later. Good luck :)

