

8aweek and RescueTime - garbowza
http://leavingcorporate.com/2008/03/04/8aweek-and-rescuetime/

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webwright
I commented on da blog, but I'll repost here for good measure:

Amen to that.

I'm always blown away about how many people focus on their competition-- in 3
person startup like RescueTime, any attention we give to our competition is
taking away attention from our users. That doesn't mean we don't care about
differentiation-- it just means that we have an army of excited users with
GREAT ideas and that's what we need to focus on... Almost exclusively, for the
time being.

I think you're spot on with your compare/contrast. RT is a "knowledge" tool
with a bit of behavior modification/feedback thrown in. 8aW is a "behavior
modification" tool with a bit of knowledge thrown in. We're both making people
more productive-- we're just taking different paths.

I would add that one of big differences I see is that RescueTime focuses on
online and offline activity. We're even playing around with the idea of data
from phones and calendars. 8aWeek focuses on the browser, and honestly does a
much better job at shaping browsing habits (and always will).

"A rising tide raises all ships"-- I think competition raises awareness and
that's a good thing.

FWIW, I've never heard anyone say, "I'm leaving 8aWeek for RescueTime" or vice
versa. I think they scratch fundamentally different itches.

~~~
8en
That's it. I'm leaving rescue time to use 8aWeek.

Just kidding. I agree with you - conversely, a complete lack of competition is
probably a bad sign.

------
vlad
I feel like I had heard of RescueTime many years ago...could that be possible?

~~~
bfioca
Only if we end up so successful that we're one day able to build a tool to go
back in time. Er, I mean... yes. :)

In all seriousness, though - the original RescueTime coming soon page was put
up a little less than a year ago. It did land on TechCrunch, which is where
you might have seen it so long ago.

