TL;DR
Stefan and Jens debated whether startups should copy competitors. Their conclusion: copying features may help you get started, but lasting success comes from distribution, vision, and differentiation. They share stories of WunderGraph’s early struggles with copying Hasura, why that strategy failed, and how open source alternatives like Supabase and Cal.com grew by carving their own path.
The copycat label
The episode opened with Stefan raising the theme: people often accuse startups of being copycats. Jens admitted that early on it was easy for outsiders to say Cosmo was “just a copy of Apollo,” but in reality their approach was different.
Sometimes it can look from the outside that you’re copying your competitors. But I would argue we’re in so many ways completely different.
Lessons from the early days
Jens told the story of WunderGraph’s beginnings. Inspired by Hasura’s auto-generated APIs, he thought building “a better Hasura” by adding features would win users. Instead, he realized copying feature-for-feature was a dead end.
My theory was take a competitor, do what they do, do it better… and you will win. And yeah, that’s a huge mistake.
Distribution beats features
The real issue is distribution. You can replicate features, but you can’t copy a competitor’s audience, their brand, or their network. Those are the multipliers that determine whether a product scales. Without them, copying leaves you always behind.
You can’t copy distribution. You can copy features, but you can’t copy brand, you can’t copy network.
Finding your own compass
Jens compared copying to walking a path through tall grass: you can follow the footprints, but you’re always behind. Competitors are guided by their own agenda, while your job is to set your own direction. For WunderGraph, that compass is its vision and customer needs.
You can copy their features, but it doesn’t mean you follow their agenda. You’re just behind them.
Copying as a foothold
Stefan argued that copying isn’t always bad for first-time founders, if it’s a way to enter a market before carving out a larger vision. He cited Supabase, which began as an open source Firebase alternative before expanding into managed Postgres, and Cal.com, which started as an open source Calendly competitor before broadening into scheduling.
Copying your competitors isn’t necessarily bad as long as you have a greater vision.
When competitors copy you
The conversation flipped: what happens when the market copies you? Stefan joked about “Borat-style” copycats—competitors replicating features one after another. Jens explained that while the surface may look the same, true differentiation lies deeper in execution and business model. For example, making federation open source with air-gapped support isn’t just a feature choice, it’s a fundamentally different approach from competitors.
It might look the same from the outside, but it’s really about how you execute and what business model you follow.
This episode was directed by Jacob Javor. Transcript lightly edited for clarity and flow.
