DISQUS

Mathew's comments: Competing without even trying to

  • Brian · 3 years ago
    The real fun comes when people figure out how to apply this to other industries.

    Granted other industries Are Different. Capital costs alone will keep people from Craiglisting (say) Boeing or Airbus. Of course I'm sure the conventional wisdom in the publishing industry said this twenty years ago as well.
  • Markus · 3 years ago
    I'm doing the same thing to the online dating industry. For every million that i make I take away 10's of millions from paid dating sites. The falling cost of hardware make it really easy to create economies of scale that were impossible a few years ago.
  • Stuart MacDonald · 3 years ago
    Sigh. Reminds me of the early day of online travel. I remember sitting in industry meetings with all these Old Skool types, all of them saying to each other "this online thing's not really happening, right? Right? Heh. Heh. Right?" I would sit quietly, and stare at my hands. Sorta sad, really.

    Fast forward to 2006. So when's the last time *you* booked a trip without buying at least part of it on the web?

    Exactly. Wake up, media types. The train left the station in 1997.

    - Stuart
  • Paul K. · 3 years ago
    You know what though? This is a fun story, but as I say over on my site in response to this NYT story, the self-congratulatory sorts leaving oodles of money on the table are being foolish. While leaving excess profits on the table may get you a little free publicity today, it guarantees tomorrow competitors who ape your model and do it faster, cheaper, and better.
  • Mathew · 3 years ago
    That's a good point, Paul. Thanks for the comment. And I agree that we may be confusing a dislocation caused by rapid market evolution for some kind of "purpose-driven" revolution.

    Mathew