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Shameless copy cats are hurting the "build in public" community
Over the past few months, I've seen an increasing number of copy cats hurting the "build in public" trend. It's beyond frustrating and discouraging because it diminishes our hard work and effort, leaving us feeling like our original message has been lost.
It's hurtful to the person who did the original work, but it's hurtful to the community as a whole.
I see how the "build in public" trend is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain, and it's no surprise that many people are starting to stop building in public altogether, due to the realization that sharing a road map and insights of their product has more downsides than advantages.
And although there are those who do it with ill intent, some may not be aware that competing is distinct from copying. Competition is completely different than copying. Taking somebody's idea so long as your expression of it is different, is not just acceptable - it's encouraged. But copying feature by feature, without putting your own spin on it - that's simply shameless.
We need to stand up for the people who are putting themselves out there and building something amazing. We need to protect the integrity of this community. We need to make sure that copycats know that there are consequences for their actions, otherwise the “build in public” community will continue to suffer.
Should Product Hunt and similar platforms work on a reporting feature for those who come up with copied projects? And what else could be done about this?
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Yassin Bouacherine
That's a very Interesting topic! I think copycats will always be behind the curve when it comes to being at the top of the competition. As you mentioned, they copy feature by feature, without putting their own spin on it. The reason is that they do not have the required inner qualities of a maker that went from scratch. They lack the understanding and the skills to perform within their own means to offer something different and better. They rely on the "original" to be able to create a clone that has often many issues. As long as you are not sharing every single detail, the different nuances of the intricate functions of your app, and what your app may be in the next coming years, I think you will be fine.
Someone may try to copy your fighting style, but if they don't understand the sense of it, you can be sure you gonna beat them very easily. The best way to hurt them is to get those who sign for "their" product into yours. It can also be taken positively as being challenged on who's really at the top and being more confident about your product and what you offer.
A Product Hunt platform for the copied projects may be interesting but it could get also be abused by some makers. As you mentioned, competing and copying can be confused with one another. I would be more inclined to a platform with a list of apps that does the exact same job, and people could have a ranking system on who's got the slickest feature by feature, most sold, etc.
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@jack95 thanks. I agree with you that copycats are only a problem if they're better than you at executing on your vision. Most of the time, they're not, and they're not really a threat.
I'm not too worried about my business copycats (there are a few!), but I do think these types of initiatives might discourage people from embarking on their own #buildinpublic journey.
I think one important thing is to raise awareness. Could it be that we need to make sure that newcomers are aware that copycats that are building and launching something that someone else already did will probably only decrease their chances of success and they don't need to worry about it?
@fer_momento I think that's the right move! Raising awareness of those issues is the best way to put the spotlight on copycat bad practices.