I think it was Maciej Cegłowski, founder of https://pinboard.in, who related the following story:
- He had a competitor who couldn't make the product work given revenues < costs
- He ended up buying the competitor
- Because his infrastructure costs were much lower (I believe due to NOT using AWS whereas the competitor did) he was able to make money on the cash flow from the competitor because he ran his business more efficiently.
This story struck me because it was a vivid reminder that two companies, in the same industry and with the same product can have VASTLY different operating models when it comes to people, costs, infrastructure etc.
I 100% believe you are correct in that pattern matching plays a role. That being said, it's important to add that there are "a thousand right ways and a million wrong ways." Just because one of the 1000 is the hot ticket doesn't mean it's the only way.
- He had a competitor who couldn't make the product work given revenues < costs
- He ended up buying the competitor
- Because his infrastructure costs were much lower (I believe due to NOT using AWS whereas the competitor did) he was able to make money on the cash flow from the competitor because he ran his business more efficiently.
This story struck me because it was a vivid reminder that two companies, in the same industry and with the same product can have VASTLY different operating models when it comes to people, costs, infrastructure etc.
I 100% believe you are correct in that pattern matching plays a role. That being said, it's important to add that there are "a thousand right ways and a million wrong ways." Just because one of the 1000 is the hot ticket doesn't mean it's the only way.