[baybal2]

Think a bit yourself. If you struck gold, you have zero chance not being cloned.

1. Do not strike gold — look for an easily entrechable position in niche market, like a lot of companies in US do

2. Economies of scale — works until your competitor bribes a banker for a giant loan

3. Be one step ahead — look at FAB business. In microelectronics fabrication, everybody copy each other, and you can't do anything about it, but somehow companies still maintain their positions

[petra]

You always have to be one step ahead. No competitive edge lasts forever.

But there's a big difference between being cloned in a month, and being cloned in a year.

Within a year, maybe you could build a brand, create v2, have some economies of scale in dealing with your suppliers(harder to bribe), create some internal expertise.

The last situation is somewhat similar to the fabless companies.