

Competition & Class - aaronwhite
http://restrictionisexpression.com/post/2745382434/competition-class

======
malvosenior
He comes across as very whiny. The tactics he mentions seem pretty valid to me
(and if he's mad, they must be working to some degree).

He should be happy Twitter haven't decided to roll those features into the
platform (yet) and put him out of business altogether.

~~~
aaronwhite
(I think I'm the he?) Happy to debate the merit of the tactics (though metrics
& past experience suggest to me they are ineffective). I took issue with
"small guy vs small guy". I have no large pie worth stealing, and neither will
a competitor if they focus their efforts on my piece.

Also re: Twitter. I'd be thrilled if/when they roll it into the platform. I
built Proxlet to solve a very real problem, not to build an empire.

------
ivankirigin
I generally agree. Ads targeting competition are fine, depending on the copy.

The only thing that has calmed me in similar situations is knowing that
competition that does things without class doesn't do well. If your marketing
is around a very small competitor instead of the usual alternative (nothing),
then you're incompetent. If your product design is based on copying the
competition, then you're incompetent.

------
gyardley
All's fair in love and war, and there's no point getting bent out of shape
about it.

That said, spending time & money on these sorts of tactics is almost always
less efficient than spending time & money improving your product. Every hour
you spend improving Proxlet while your competitor's fussing with AdWords and
downvoting on Quora is an hour you're winning.

