You either Die Getting Acquired, or You Live Long Enough to Get Cloned

One day, your startup’s on top of the world.

Then the next day, a trillion-dollar company releases a clone of your product. Uh-oh.

It happens more often than we think.

It’s not an automatic “game over” for startups if this happens, though. These giants still need to execute, and fast. If they don’t see the impact they’re looking for, they’ll kill the product and move onto another opportunity.

But one-trick pony startups will have a harder time addressing these threats than those with diversified strategies and deep differentiation.

Below are a few companies that have faced, or are currently facing, this challenge. Some are faring better than others.

Let’s jump in 👇

🟢 Gong vs. Zoom

Gong launched in 2015 to help sales teams record, transcribe, and analyze their phone calls and Zoom meetings. They grew quickly and were valued at $7B+ by 2021.

We all know Zoom. They became the defacto meeting platform during the pandemic and have hundreds of thousands of business customers. So it made sense when they announced their Gong-like solution, IQ for Sales.

This news would’ve been an issue for Gong if they had solely focused on call recording. But over the years, they dramatically expanded their product suite to include sales forecasting, email sequencing, and data enrichment.

Will some companies still choose Zoom for basic sales call recording? Sure. But Gong isn’t really going after those companies anymore. They’re working to solve larger, more expensive problems that plague revenue teams as a whole (not just sales teams).

i.e. because they diversified their product line and expanded their target audience, they’ll be fine.

🟢 Calendly vs. Google Appointment Scheduler

Founded in 2013, Calendly rose to popularity as a scheduling app that helps users find available time with others. As of 2021, its valued at $3B.

It was only a matter of time before a calendar tool would bring these concepts to their platform. And in 2022, Google did just that with their Appointment Scheduler.

Despite this, Calendly is likely fine. They offer a much wider range of features than Google Appointment Scheduler, like recurring appointments, meeting reminders, and meeting trends, and can be integrated to non-Google Calendars, as well.

Here’s how Calendly positions themselves against Google Appointment Scheduler.

🟡 Camo vs. Apple’s Continuity Camera

Launched in 2020, Camo lets users record high-quality video by connecting phone cameras to computers. It was a good solution for all the employees that suddenly found themselves working from home due to the pandemic.

But in 2022, Apple made it possible for iPhone and Mac users to do the same thing with the Continuity Camera feature.

It’s not the end for Camo, but it definitely took some wind out of their sails—mainly because iPhones and Macs are so popular. There’s still a use case for Android phones and Windows OS, though.

Here’s how Camo positions themselves against Continuity Camera.

🟡 Slack vs. Microsoft Teams

Slack is an instant messaging platform that launched in 2013 to help teams communicate and collaborate more effectively. They grew quick, hitting 1M users in just two years.

Their growth was undeniable and Microsoft took notice. In 2016, Teams was launched as a direct Slack competitor.

Here’s how Slack positions themselves against Microsoft Teams.

🔴 Foursquare vs. Facebook Places

Foursquare was founded in 2009 as a social networking app to help users discover new places based on their interests.

Although you could use Foursquare to “check in” to places on Twitter and Google+, it was mostly used on Facebook.

Shortly after Foursquare gained popularity, Facebook Places was launched. Not only was it native to the Facebook platform, but it had more robust features too.

Within one year, it had over 30M users (3x of Foursquare’s at the time).

Foursquare had no choice but to pivot. And luckily, they did so successfully. Today, their primary focus is on providing businesses with location data and analytics.

🔴 Vine vs. Instagram Stories

Vine was a social media platform that focused on short-form videos. At its peak in 2015, it had 200M+ active users.

You can’t be a one-trick pony in the social media space for long (we learned this from Foursquare above). After Vine gained popularity, Instagram added videos and stories to their platform. And to add insult to injury, TikTok and Snapchat both started gaining popularity as similar short-form social platforms.

Unfortunately, this one doesn’t have a happy ending. Vine’s popularity declined in 2016 and it was shut down in 2017.

In the startup world, it’s survival of the fittest. When big tech giants clone your product, it’s not game over—it’s game on.

The key to staying in the ring is swift execution and a diversified product strategy. Sure, some startups may take a hit, but those with multi-product approaches and broad audience strategies can roll with the punches.

💚Andy

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