[gostsamo]

Well, without knowing what the product is, the advice could be rather limited. You can offer better support or you can offer something that a big company cannot afford like data exportability. VC financed companies need to show exponential growth to justify their valuations while you maybe can afford to invest in your users that is not profitable but that might give you an advantage in the long term.

[anonfounder747]

> You can offer better support or you can offer something that a big company cannot afford like data exportability.

Thanks for the suggestions. Will look into how I can do these.

> VC financed companies need to show exponential growth to justify their valuations while you maybe can afford to invest in your users that is not profitable but that might give you an advantage in the long term.

I can see their messaging has become more convoluted, while the product is still good. Recent reviews by users also indicate they are not as attentive to users' needs -- perhaps a function of their scale. For these reasons, their rapid scale-up could be a competitive disadvantage in the long term, or they might have such massive mindshare (like they do now) that it will drown out alternatives like mine. The latter vision is the one that keeps me up at night.

[gostsamo]

Mindshare is overrated. It matters for programing languages where joining the hype helps you land a new job or social media due to network effects. However, if you are selling a tool, the user asks does it solves my problems without creating new ones for a reasonable price? and not how many others are using it? So, focus on your users because they pay your bills.

[anonfounder747]

Really good to hear those examples. That makes a lot of sense.