Products vs Services Debate

The cluster revolves around discussions distinguishing between product companies and service businesses in tech and startups, debating business models, scalability, and whether companies are truly selling tools or services.

📉 Falling 0.4x Startups & Business
2,318
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#3565
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Keywords

IT IP HP SLA GE LOL TAC service business services providing companies selling company servicing businesses product

Sample Comments

LegitShady • Sep 3, 2023 • View on HN

Then companies will make everything a service. You need to make a downside for dearing that.

fedd • Oct 31, 2011 • View on HN

It means making a service not for consumers but for other services is a bad business nowadays?

threeseed • Sep 24, 2024 • View on HN

You are conflating products with services.

damienkatz • Dec 21, 2015 • View on HN

A simple explanation for products using existing tech is be s full service vendor instead of just a few profitable niches. But that would imply them being a real business too, which doesn't seem to be the case.

gregknicholson • Jan 30, 2018 • View on HN

Ah! So they're selling a service, not a tool.

andersa • Mar 6, 2024 • View on HN

Your company is likely not considered a core platform service, so your analogy is not relevant.

baq • Sep 21, 2023 • View on HN

is your business' core competency building a distributed grep or actually selling useful stuff?

pilsetnieks • Nov 28, 2014 • View on HN

Oh, ok. I thought they meant the "...-as-a-service" kind of startups.

snowmaker • Sep 23, 2016 • View on HN

We might. Usually service companies have not led to huge businesses, so you'd need to explain how yours would be the exception.

micromacrofoot • Apr 17, 2023 • View on HN

are there enterprise grade products that don't end up spending a large amount of time providing enterprise services?