

Daring Fireball: Copying the Wrong Thing - sant0sk1
http://daringfireball.net/2009/02/copying_the_wrong_thing

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davidw
If I had to define something that "drove me nuts" about 37 Signals (although
it doesn't, really), it's that the product they have worked on for the
longest, and is the most visible, is their blog. The blog, and their fame, via
the blog, Rails, conferences, etc... is the real barrier to entry. They say
"make it really simple", and it works for them because they are way more
visible than other people, who could copy much of what they've done in a
relatively short amount of time (because, after all, it is simple, and "does
less"). However, if I make something super simple, I don't have that
visibility as a competitive advantage, and someone else could quite easily
copy my simple app in no time. That is, IMO the grain of salt that they need
to be taken with.

That said, they certainly do quality work, and I am eternally grateful for
Rails. I hope they continue to be successful.

~~~
unalone
I think that if you dedicated your project to being _as_ efficient in
developing quick, painless processes, you'd get yourself a following pretty
quickly. I think the best instance is a company like Contrast, which is very
similar to 37signals in some ways but only because they follow the same
process in their design. This isn't something that just one company can do.

That said, there's a big difference between having a product with very few
features and having a product that's elegantly simple.

------
ntoshev
I don't think "make a product for yourself" captures the entire philosophy
behind 37signals' products.

A better discussion of how to copy can be found here (it is about Picasso's
famous phrase "good artist copy, great artist steal"):

[http://www.businessofdesignonline.com/picasso-good-
artists-c...](http://www.businessofdesignonline.com/picasso-good-artists-
copy/)

The essence is that copying something in a new context with understanding of
the underlying principles is often harder than building the original.

