Thursday, March 16th, 2006

Us vs. Us vs. Them

By , co-founder and CEO

It came to our attention today that Streamload has taken on “blog advertising.” For the most part their ads are now syndicated across the same networks we’re dealing with. In some respects, this would be the same as seeing an iTunes and Rhapsody advertisement on the same site. Of course both are very different; they provide different experiences/pricing and appeal to (sometimes) different users- but to the untrained eye, their products are very similar. In the online storage world, we’re all competing against each other on various fronts. In this specific case, Streamload may be a very appealing solution for media-heavy user wanting to backup or share their home movies, music collection, etc. On their site, you will not find any descriptions of work groups, RSS sharing (though I imagine it’s coming), or a mobile site – Why? Because again, they’re after a slightly different market. The interesting thing is that we’re not actually competing against Streamload. And we’re no longer competing against Xdrive, Omnidrive, Strongspace, or any other startup in this market. The game has changed dramatically, in an instant. We are now competing with Google and potentially Amazon (depending on who builds on top of them).

So I wonder, maybe rhetorically, is there any way we can have a uniform response to this upcoming challenge? I’m doubtful, but I figured it could be a fun question to ask. I love competition, that’s why this business got started in the first place- but we need to be sure we understand who the true “enemy” is. Until this question does get answered, though, Box will surely put up a fight for the online storage crown ;)

Aaron Levie

By ,

co-founder and CEO

See all of Aaron's articles.

  • Daniel

    I saw a box.net ad on Digg.com. It was quite cool to see it. :)

    We are now competing with Google and potentially Amazon…

    That’s kinda scary ^^ (But I still love Box.net)

  • http://www.markerlenwein.com Mark

    Nah…I checked out Streamload’s website (They are down for maintenance, funny enough). The demo depicts the exact type of interface that I wanted to avoid. It’s features may seem robust, but it doesn’t look llike they were too picky when it came to adding functionality. Sometimes, too much is a negative. I refuse to sign up to see what the catch is in terms of 25 GBs of storage. There must be some sort of catch, but regardless if there wasn’t, I’m not very keen on there interface. Yeah..they do certainly target a very different audience. Box.net does practically all of the same things, just in a simpler way. Nuff said.

  • Shane Jones

    I think you guys can put together a uniform response to the competition. Of all the companies you mentioned, none of them have done a good job of really reaching into the marketplace to provide the majority of consumers with a reason for using online file storage.

    Online file storage is a consumer purchase, and consumers act emotionally. If you go to Monster.com, they don’t sell online resume posting and job searching. They tap into a consumer’s desire to make more money (or at least stop being unemployed) – “Double Your Chances of Getting a Job”, “Advance Your Career” – It’s not by accident that these statements are in fonts 2x or 3x larger than everything else.

    “Free Online Storage”
    “Get 25GB Free”
    “Free Trial! Get 5GB of Secure Online Storage for just $10 a month.”
    “File access anywhere, anytime, and from any platform”

    These statements, from the competitors listed above, don’t speak to the emotions of a consumer. They assume that the person visiting the sight already knows that they NEED online file storage, and that price (or lack there of) is the primary difference between the providers of this service.

    I think you can gain an immediate advantage over the competition by separating yourself from the field. Even in your google text ads, you can avoid the noise by focusing on the consumer pain instead of the fact you (like most of your competitors) offer online file storage for free.

    So how’s that for FREE ONLINE MARKETING ADVICE!
    ;)

  • Aaron

    Shane- excellent point. It’s just so hard right now because our efforts are to go after the early adopter crowd first to make sure we’ve done the right stuff, then reach the broader market. There’s nothing quicker right now than saying “Free Online Storage.” The tagline on our old homepage was a bit more consumerized – give us a few more weeks and we’ll see if we can return to something catchier

  • Thierry

    Catch? Among other things, the free version allows only to download 100 MB a month. So it’s NOT for backup.

  • Archos

    I signed up earlier this week based on Russell Beatties recommendation…but was disappointed to learn that there is no auto-sync software yet.

    This just popped up on Digg, and it looks like it’s just what I’m looking for: https://www.foldershare.com/

    Hurry up Box.net! I’m giving it a spin this weekend.

  • http://soundsinteresting.wordpress.com Jonathan

    I must say, I tried Streamload (free) before I tried Box (paid). I’m still using Box. Enough said.

    There was something about Streamload I didn’t like enough to not pay for it. I think it was its UI.

  • Chris

    I agree Jonathon … something about Streamload just didn’t work. I was there for free before coming to Box (and gladly parting with some precious bucks).

    Biggest catch I know of is big storage, little bandwidth unless you pay them, and the pay-per-play model didn’t make sense.

    We really do need full sync capability, though. You risk losing market by advertising a sync product that is really just a mass upload. The current sync isn’t very useful for much except client side changes from one computer, or careful pre-work, single file downloads on my many other machines.

  • Aaron

    Yes, for now the sync is single direction… I wouldn’t necessarily call it mass upload because it will only upload files that have been changed… However, the next version of the software will be bi-directonal.

  • Andrey

    Forum for users about the problems with box.net, it can by also very useful for you.

  • http://www.hoavui.com Alex Le

    I checked for “Google Storage” and on the AdSense column of the result page, a link to a service called “MyNetStorage.com”. They do offer similar services as box.net with a lower monthly fee (they are going after tacos, not burgers as Box.net). They also have a (more) competitive affiliate program.

    http://www.mynetstorage.com

    The only thing they don’t have is the slick GUI of Box.net. So box.net can differentiate the brandname better I think. And I do like the Box.net url better than the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com URL.

    Humh, sounds like a lot of interesting competition mushrooming around.

  • Faraz

    When is your syncing facility coming out?
    right now i rely on http://www.foldershare.com …. but no online storage facility and computers have to be ON.

  • Lee

    Here’s an idea…. if you will be competing with Google, maybe you should adopt a google strategy. What about implementing google’s idea of giving users invites and the people who get those invites get a free 5GB upgraded account. You can still have free 1GB accounts (that can be signed up for via the website), but this will help generate word of mouth and will limit the “freeness” of the upgraded accounts.

    I know that you kind of do that now with the upgrading of accounts that signup 5 people, but this invites idea I think is a better one.

  • Aaron

    Lee,

    Sorry but maybe I’m not understanding correctly – how is this different than what we do?

    Faraz,

    The reason we have delayed the release is because we want to ensure we can quickly scale when people start synchronizing terabytes of data.

  • David

    Just another idea that would be really useful – The ability to check documents in and out when people are collaborating on them.

  • Pierro Davilla

    What about a merger/buy out with rapidly growing storage companies like MyNetStorage.com. I did some more research on them and they seem to be a very good company with tons of subscribers. They are owned by Patrick Babaian of HotSpot Enterprises, Inc. (http://www.hotspotei.com). Maybe you should contact them.

  • West Monnett

    To respond to what what said about Mynetstorage.com-
    Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. I have switched to Box.net from mynetstorage. It’s basically a guy with extra webspace that he rents out. Their is literally no support. Also, I tried to cancel within my 30 days to get my money back as stated in their guarantee. After a number of attempts to cancel my account I’ve given up. Look up the parent company HotSpot Enterprises, and the CEO Patrick Babaian and read the horror stories. This is not a company to compare to Box.net. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

  • Holly

    Streamload

    FYI I have been a Streamload user for ages. The new interface is terrible. From what I can tell from a quick look over the thumbnails for files are gone. This is excrutiating if hundreds of old stored pics are numbered as mine are. I am having difficulty identifying most of my files.

    There also used to be a nifty account manager where you could see who was downloading your files, what, and how much. It seems to have disappeared. Lastly the file names are incomplete on the bloated interface. You now have to look at the url in your browser to see the complete file name.

    Needless to say, I am shopping for a new site.

    Holly

  • A. Rosen

    Aaron Levie, please help me. Your tech support and sales people are ignoring my e-mails, asking if I can e-mail you. I stored very important files–my work of 17 years as a journalist and activist–on Box.net and went to India. I accessed the account for two years and suddenly couldn’t sign on. Aaron of tech support told me he doesn’t know why. He told me files are not deleted due to inactivity of the customer, yet I was told the opposite by another Box.net staffer some time ago.

    I need these files. Please, you must know some way to help me. I’m getting a bad feeling when your company ignores my e-mails and won’t let me communicate with anyone other than this Aaron of tech support. I’d like to be able to recommend Box.net to other people, but at this point, I cannot.

    Aaron, please, I need your help.

    A. Rosen
    ambujar@hotmail.com (my Box.net sign-on name)