[SambaSambaSamba]

I used to work with your co-founder Felix. The idea isn't bad, but this feels like a direct copy of the company where we worked, StreetShares. They had the exact same "Main Street" theme an overused it a bit. The "About" page used to list the employees' favourite main street in their synopses. Even the homepage is surprising similar. The main difference seems to be the stock photos.

So are there any differences in your product and SS? I assume the tech stack is much better. SS made me want to vomit. I guess this is an SS clone without the military focus? SS wasn't an original idea either, but at least they tried to put a spin on it. This just feels like blatant rip off

[rwmj]

There's nothing wrong with taking an idea and trying to do it better.

[SambaSambaSamba]

There's a fine line between trying to improve an idea and cheap knock-offs and stealing an ideas and identities.

Uber and Lyft are very similar, but at least they could be differentiated. Lyft had tips at the start. The apps, sites, UX, colour scheme, etc... were still noticeably different despite offering the same product.

Also it's a little different when you work at one company, leave, and then a year later you copy their same product with little change and 0 attempt to establish your own brand.

[rwmj]

Are you asserting that he copied code or graphics, or took existing customers with him? If not, then there's still nothing wrong. It's competition, it's how it works.

[SambaSambaSamba]

It is still worth pointing out as it is a little shady, even if it isn't illegal.

In some ways it is similar to SlideBelt and how MissionBelt essentially stole their product. Except in that case I believe it was a family relation and not a professional relation.

In this case, we have businesses asking for money. What if the founders decide they like one of the bids? They could hide/remove the bid and then steal the business idea and use their connections, which the struggling business likely doesn't have, to steal the idea.

Would you really trust these people?

[valuearb]

It’s not shady at all to copy and compete with any business. That you would call them shady says more about you than them.

[SambaSambaSamba]

> That you would call them shady says more about you than them.

You may be right there. I was pretty miserable when I worked for SS and see most things from that period in a negative light. I don't mean to sound adversarial, but what would it be saying about me?

I think my issue here is that is feels more like a direct steal of a business idea and less like competition. I don't see any changes, differences, innovation, or rebranding.

It's a fine line, and everyone sees the line differently. For example, an outsider stealing a business idea is better in my mind. They could have very well been working on the same idea concurrently like Leibniz and Newton. They will also have a different perspective and take on the situation. When a previous employee steals an idea without improvement, it doesn't sit well with me.

I think I'd be fine with it even if they just shifted focus. As a direct improvement on SS they could say they are focusing on transparency and security, pushing users towards 2FA and secure practices while being open with some of the risks involved. They could focus on local small businesses within X km or maybe some new attempt to quantify risk and match investors to businesses based on risk profiles. They did none of that. They took the exact same "Main Street" motif and just changed the color. Competition is good, but cookie cutter companies like this with no innovation only hurt each other. And then when these companies fail, everyone that that pulled in to invest and the small businesses involved suffer.

[xwdv]

Even if it’s more than just a little shady, people are free to do as they please as long as it’s legal. The law is the law.

Not really sure what you propose they do about it?

[SambaSambaSamba]

I wasn't proposing anything. I still think it is worth shedding light on shady practices so people are at least aware.

Just because something is define in law does not make it right or wrong. All we can really do is inform people and let them decide for themselves.

[burkaman]

Has StreetShares maybe pivoted a bit since you worked there? I'm looking at their website now, and it looks like they sell bonds and then invest the funds in veteran-owned businesses, so it seems like investors aren't directly exposed to any individual business. Honestly I don't see much in common with Mainvest, either in design or concept.

If StreetShares used to look like Mainvest but changed their model, and Felix believed in the original idea and decided to quit and try it again, what's wrong with that? It's like the Vine founders starting Byte, or the Screenhero founders starting Screen. Not only is copying ideas a core part of capitalism, but it barely even counts as copying when it's an idea you yourself worked on.

[SambaSambaSamba]

Yeah its likely. The moment I saw the Mainvest homepage I was reminded of the SS homepage when I was there. It looks like there have been changes since.

I assumed a founder or one of the employees was the one to post the link. I was genuinely curious to see how they are different. SS did a lot of things wrong, and there was a lot of room for improvement, but at a glance this place looks the same.

edit: After re-reading the original comment, I guess the "blatant ripoff" line was a bit rough. I probably should have used some softer language