[melvinmt]

Yes and no.

While cloning a service in a different geographical area may be profitable and successful on the short term, it's never going to be a Facebook or a Google on a global scale. It's like opening up an Italian restaurant in a small little town that doesn't have an Olive Garden yet.

If that's the kind of business you want to be in that's fine, but it's not the high-growth kind of startup that many of us are trying to build.

It's "just" a cash cow.

[matteodepalo]

I tend to feel this way as well about clones, however your example IMHO doesn't really catch the problem. If the Italian restaurant is very good and aimed at a selective audience it can win against a big brand that aims at everyone. Of course they can only win if they don't try to clone an Olive Garden. The problem here is not making something small to beat a giant competitor, it's to build something exactly like a service you know to be very very good for the purpose of having it now. Indiegogo is a good example for this; they are like Kickstarter and offer a very good service to Europe. Considering Kickstarted wont be here for a long time I think they caught a good opportunity.