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https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread"> At Doist, we have for 10+ years competed against Google, Microsoft, and Apple in the hyper-competitive market of todo apps. Some thoughts follow on how you can compete against trillion-dollar Goliaths.
I& #39;ll start with examples, and end with core principles.
I& #39;ll start with examples, and end with core principles.
1/ Some examples of companies that have successfully done it:
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📹" title="Videokamera" aria-label="Emoji: Videokamera"> Zoom built a $50bn+ company in a market where the Goliaths have operated for years.
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎧" title="Kopfhörer" aria-label="Emoji: Kopfhörer"> Spotify built a $50bn+ company and a market leader in music as they competed head-on against Apple and Google.
2/ Some more examples:
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🗂" title="Kartei-Trennwände" aria-label="Emoji: Kartei-Trennwände"> Dropbox built a $10bn company even when Goliaths are preinstalling their solutions with their operative systems.
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🛒" title="Shopping cart" aria-label="Emoji: Shopping cart"> Shopify built a $100bn+ company in an e-commerce market dominated by Amazon.
3/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌐" title="Weltkugel mit Längengraden" aria-label="Emoji: Weltkugel mit Längengraden"> Apart from the multi-billion dollar companies, there are many smaller companies like Doist, Zapier, Superhuman, Figma, Notion, etc. that do tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in yearly revenue. For Goliaths, $100M in ARR is a rounding error.
4/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💡" title="Elektrische Glühbirne" aria-label="Emoji: Elektrische Glühbirne"> I could keep listing examples, but let& #39;s look at core principles of how to compete against Goliaths. Goliaths aren& #39;t invincible, and they are more vulnerable than we think.
5/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🕸" title="Spinnennetz" aria-label="Emoji: Spinnennetz"> Base your go-to-market strategy on network effects. Network effects are hard to copy, and they are much cheaper than ad-based or sales-based strategies. Most of the companies that win big over Goliaths is because of network effects. https://www.nfx.com/post/network-effects-bible/">https://www.nfx.com/post/netw...
6/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👌" title="Ok hand" aria-label="Emoji: Ok hand"> Your service needs to be amazing. You& #39;ll lose if your offering becomes the same or mediocre. Firefox is an excellent example of how you can get run over if you lose your edge. Firefox didn& #39;t lose because Google played dirty, but because Google built a much better browser.
7/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔀" title="Verbogene nach rechts zeigende Pfeile" aria-label="Emoji: Verbogene nach rechts zeigende Pfeile"> You need to be differentiated, and you can& #39;t compete directly. Shopify is thriving because they are a platform, and Amazon is an aggregator. Shopify would have little chance if they weren& #39;t radically different from Amazon. https://stratechery.com/2019/shopify-and-the-power-of-platforms/">https://stratechery.com/2019/shop...
8/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👽" title="Außerirdischer" aria-label="Emoji: Außerirdischer"> Conway& #39;s Law says that you& #39;ll ship your org chart. So pick a company structure that looks radically different from a big corporation. For example, be remote-first or embrace open-source. Don& #39;t look or act like them. https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/articles/demystifying-conways-law">https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/...
9/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😍" title="Lächelndes Gesicht mit herzförmigen Augen" aria-label="Emoji: Lächelndes Gesicht mit herzförmigen Augen"> Love what you do! At Doist, we have a deep passion for creating the best todo app in the world. For a Goliath, todo apps are a top 1000 priority, and they don& #39;t put their best people on this priority. A Goliath won& #39;t go out of business if their todo app fails (we will!)
10/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👴" title="Älterer Mann" aria-label="Emoji: Älterer Mann"> Plan, and do for the long-term. Goliaths don& #39;t have most things figured out. If you& #39;ve ever worked in or with a Goliath, you will understand that they are engines of chaos, politics, and inefficiency. An example is Google& #39;s messaging hell: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3516145/google-hangouts-2020.html">https://www.computerworld.com/article/3...
11/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="☠️" title="Totenkopf" aria-label="Emoji: Totenkopf"> Big companies should not be your biggest fear. "What you should fear, as a startup, is not the established players, but other startups you don& #39;t know exist yet. They& #39;re way more dangerous than Google because, like you, they& #39;re cornered animals." http://paulgraham.com/startuplessons.html">https://paulgraham.com/startuple...
12/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎉" title="Partyknaller" aria-label="Emoji: Partyknaller"> If you build something that grabs Goliaths& #39; full attention, then it& #39;s likely an excellent problem to have! Slack is under siege by Microsoft and Google, but on the bright side, they& #39;ve built at $15bn+ company with millions of customers and thousands of employees.
13/ https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="0️⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 0" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 0"> This isn& #39;t a zero-sum game, and you don& #39;t need to become a multi-billion dollar company. We need more companies that do this:
• Create great jobs where ambition and balance are in check
• Make meaningful things that are loved by people
• Do it in a sustainable way
• Create great jobs where ambition and balance are in check
• Make meaningful things that are loved by people
• Do it in a sustainable way
14/ That& #39;s it! Thanks for attending my TED talk https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😅" title="Lächelndes Gesicht mit offenem Mund und Angstschweiß" aria-label="Emoji: Lächelndes Gesicht mit offenem Mund und Angstschweiß">
