[vaksel]

thats the point, those countries are just starting out. You can just copy paste proven ideas from the states and make millions.

Like Mint? Angry that you missed the boat? Good news! Invest overseas in the same type of company, and watch it grow to become a market leader by having a monopoly. And you have a guaranteed exit lined up, when Mint enters your market and decides to buy you out.

Sure the core innovation will still come from the states, but the first innovator is rarely the guy who profits from the idea.

[warkaiser]

I agree with part of that. Look at the German LinkedIn competitor, which is a publicly traded company. It is the local leader, but that did not stop LinkedIn from moving in there. In the long run, the only strong brand is a global one. I do not see an opportunity for every region to have a successful me-too competitor.

[moe]

I do not see an opportunity for every region to have a successful me-too competitor.

Don't forget though, that the cultural gap between the US and Asia is much bigger than between the US and europe. It's quite likely that a successful US product can be made successful in europe by the same people. It's a different story when you move from US/Europe to India, Japan or even China.

The japanese Facebook (mixi.jp) looks quite different to the US and european variants. Not only in terms of aesthetics but also in many subtile usability and feature aspects.

[potatolicious]

The Chinese facebook (xiaonei.com) is another good example of this - it started as a complete facebook ripoff, but has now gained more momentum than facebook has in that country, and is evolving its own feature set.

This goes to support the point that, for the next while at least, "me too" business models WILL work in developing nations.