It's funny how first time entrepreneurs worry about giant cos entering their market, and anybody who's worked at a giant co tells them not to worry (cont)
The way I think of it now is: you never compete against Google. You compete against a PM at Google, who works 9-5 (sorry!), doesn't care 1/100th as much as you do, and has 70 lawyers on his back and 6 months of meetings every time he wants to do something
Big cos sometimes do kill startups — but it's the exception not the rule.
Look at Spotify. 3 of the biggest companies in the world compete with them — Apple, Google and Amazon.
Or Slack — Google, Microsoft, FB all compete.
Or Dropbox — Apple, Google and Microsoft.
All do fine.
Look at Spotify. 3 of the biggest companies in the world compete with them — Apple, Google and Amazon.
Or Slack — Google, Microsoft, FB all compete.
Or Dropbox — Apple, Google and Microsoft.
All do fine.
I could write a book about why big companies have such a hard time competing against startups. But really it comes down to incentives, and to the very powerful antibodies that develop inside big cos (for good reason!) and kill new ideas
Cisco's "spin in" model (spin out teams, fund them, and contract an option to buy them back later) is an admission of this. The model isn't about the incentives — you can get that with bonuses indexed on revenue. It's about the antibodies. "It's easier out there than in here"
