[SambaSambaSamba]

I used to work with your co-founder Felix. The idea isn't bad, but this feels like a direct copy of the company where we worked, StreetShares. They had the exact same "Main Street" theme an overused it a bit. The "About" page used to list the employees' favourite main street in their synopses. Even the homepage is surprising similar. The main difference seems to be the stock photos.

So are there any differences in your product and SS? I assume the tech stack is much better. SS made me want to vomit. I guess this is an SS clone without the military focus? SS wasn't an original idea either, but at least they tried to put a spin on it. This just feels like blatant rip off

[rwmj]

There's nothing wrong with taking an idea and trying to do it better.

[SambaSambaSamba]

There's a fine line between trying to improve an idea and cheap knock-offs and stealing an ideas and identities.

Uber and Lyft are very similar, but at least they could be differentiated. Lyft had tips at the start. The apps, sites, UX, colour scheme, etc... were still noticeably different despite offering the same product.

Also it's a little different when you work at one company, leave, and then a year later you copy their same product with little change and 0 attempt to establish your own brand.

[burkaman]

Has StreetShares maybe pivoted a bit since you worked there? I'm looking at their website now, and it looks like they sell bonds and then invest the funds in veteran-owned businesses, so it seems like investors aren't directly exposed to any individual business. Honestly I don't see much in common with Mainvest, either in design or concept.

If StreetShares used to look like Mainvest but changed their model, and Felix believed in the original idea and decided to quit and try it again, what's wrong with that? It's like the Vine founders starting Byte, or the Screenhero founders starting Screen. Not only is copying ideas a core part of capitalism, but it barely even counts as copying when it's an idea you yourself worked on.

[SambaSambaSamba]

Yeah its likely. The moment I saw the Mainvest homepage I was reminded of the SS homepage when I was there. It looks like there have been changes since.

I assumed a founder or one of the employees was the one to post the link. I was genuinely curious to see how they are different. SS did a lot of things wrong, and there was a lot of room for improvement, but at a glance this place looks the same.

edit: After re-reading the original comment, I guess the "blatant ripoff" line was a bit rough. I probably should have used some softer language