from Hacker News

Ask HN: Should a startup own its data or be a layer on top of third-party data

by philippelh on 4/22/13, 10:59 PM with 4 comments

I'm asking myself if a startup should own its data (text/pictures/videos) or use data from third-party like twitter/fb/flickr/etc and act as a layer on top of those services.

A lot of people are telling me that it's near impossible to grow a user base when you want your user to post a subset of the data they usually post on mainstream social network.

What do you think?

  • by alttab on 4/22/13, 11:50 PM

    Data is worth money. Anyone can build features using data. Data is worth money.

    Data is worth money.

    Data is worth money.

    We are in the age of information, not the age of pretty UIs.

  • by AznHisoka on 4/23/13, 6:37 PM

    Keep in mind there can be a middle way. You can build on top of other people's data using your propietary algorithms, to generate even more valuable data. Example: SEMRush - they scape keyword data to build a data on keywords your competitor is ranking for.

  • by evanwolf on 4/23/13, 8:06 PM

    Your value is in the verbs (designs, code, insights, user relationships, partner relationships). Nouns (data) are interchangeable, flowing, always changing. Invest in the verbs.