This is actually quite an interesting strategy, and I've been watching the Samwer group since their eBay clone in the dotcom days.
I think there might be an argument to look at some of the successful startups that are bomming and try and pre-empt where they may be going in the next 12-24 months, build it and sell it back to them. That is actually quite innovative. But these guys seem to be just building a "me-too" and selling it back at a profit, just so they can be extracted as the competition. Feels a little 'scammy' doesn't it? Regards Rob James Ph: +612 8005 0666 | US: +1 310 928 3185 | Mob: 0412 413 414 | Skype: rjames-au | Twitter: snaglepus (http://twitter.com/snaglepus) | http://robjam.es/ On Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 12:41 PM, Kate Kendall wrote: > I was recently at Aibnb HQ chatting about their "competition" and have just > read this TechCrunch piece from last week, which brought the issue to mind > again. > > http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/09/airbnb/ > (http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/09/airbnb/) > > I find the whole thing pretty fascinating. Basically, people like the German > Samwer brothers, build clones of popular North American sites, grow a user > base and then try to sell the company back to the original. Often > successfully. > > Obviously we don't see it to this extent in Australia but a lot of what we > have is certainly inspired. > > It also makes me think of the following quote: > > "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation." Herman > Melville > > Just wanted to gauge your opinion... > > Cheers, > > Kate > > @katekendall (http://twitter.com/katekendall) > http://thefetch.org > http://katekendall.com > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach > Australia mailing list. > > Guidelines on discussion: > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den > > No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. > > To post to this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > (mailto:silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com) > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > (mailto:silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com) > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Guidelines on discussion: http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. To post to this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
