3 builders who never spoke to each other

Beat the incumbent on one narrow thing

Against an established competitor, pick a single output buyers care about and be plainly better at it rather than matching their range. Harry's took on Gillette with two razors and Tony Dinh took on screenshot tools by producing one finished result with no editing step in between. Where the underlying technology is a commodity, Dru Riley argues the interface and the words around it are the only places left to win.

The method

1. 01

   To attack an incumbent in e-commerce, launch a deliberately tiny line where each item is clearly different from the others, and compete on quality, convenience and price instead of catalogue size.

2. 02

   Entering a category that already has tools is fine if you narrow to one output people want badly and execute it better than anyone.

3. 03

   Compete with an incumbent publisher on frequency rather than on quality when their format limits how often they can publish.

4. 04

   Win on the interface and the way you describe it rather than on the engine underneath, because the engine is a commodity your competitors also have.

What it returned

• 60,000

  OpenClaw collected more than 60,000 GitHub stars inside 72 hours, attributed to messaging as the interface rather than to model quality.

• Harry's went after Gillette with a range of just two razors.

• Tony Dinh's Xnapper competed with existing screenshot tools by specialising in polished screenshots ready for Twitter with no Photoshop step; Justin uses it three to five times a day.

• The Stony Plain Reporter and Spruce Grove Examiner were good papers but printed weekly, so Tri Area News offered quick timely updates by Twitter, Facebook, RSS and email instead.

Sources

• Choice Paradox - Why We Buy 🧠Katelyn Bourgoin · customercamp.co · E-commerce Challenge leading brands with a clear offering · undated
• How to get people to choose your productJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How to get people to choose your product · undated
• Local news web siteJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Local news web site · undated
• Personal AI Agents: Skill Marketplaces, Compliance Wedge, Open Weights - Trends.vcDru Riley · trends.vc · 🔑 Key Lessons · 2026-05-28