Ask HN: Build trust for closed source product

1 pointsvitalikpie1mo ago5 comments

Hi HN,

I'm a developer of an early B2C niche product. Software is free and intended to be free. My plan is to charge for services only when there a demand for that service. So pretty fair deal - no rug-pulling, just a free software without any catch.

My audience care about privacy and security a lot. At least 5% of people asked if it's possible to make product open source.

With all respect to open-source I think it removes one of the moats - code. With AI and things like https://malus.sh/ it feels like open sourcing commercial product is way to loose one of the moats. It's not quite possible to vibe-code similar product at the moment (I honestly tried - LLMs are not there yet for my language and domain).

Thus said, I understand that people are not asking about the code itself. It will just feel more secure if they can skim it and verify if there is any security/privacy problems.

Is there any way to build trust without giving the code away?

5 comments

dabinat1mo ago

You could provide code to enterprise customers for a fee, with contractural restrictions on how they can use it.

You could also have trusted third parties see the code and vouch for it.

Or you may decide that the 5% asking for this feature aren’t worth it. You don’t have to capture every customer.

gotwaz1mo ago

Think about what your own needs are. Moats are only required till the need is meet.

vitalikpieOP1mo ago

Sorry I'm dumb. had to ask LLM what you mean.

Do you mean

Your moat only matters until you’ve solved a real user need. Once the need is clearly being met, the moat matters less than trust, adoption, and execution.

If yes - I wonder what does it mean for a product.

Do you mean that after need is met (PMF reached) no one can beat: - brand - distribution - support - community?

gotwaz1mo ago

I said your needs. Think about why you are doing what you are doing. And at what point that need is met. So if your need is financial then you say my need is to recover my costs(time you put in * hourly rate+hardware costs+energy costs etc etc) + some profit. Once you have achieved that the moat becomes less important right? If the need is not financial but this project is going to look good on my resume and get me more interesting work, then the moment you do get a better job the moat doesnt matter. So I was encouraging you to think about why you do what you do. Cuz after you feel like you have meet your own needs moats matter less.

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5 comments

dabinat1mo ago

You could provide code to enterprise customers for a fee, with contractural restrictions on how they can use it.

You could also have trusted third parties see the code and vouch for it.

Or you may decide that the 5% asking for this feature aren’t worth it. You don’t have to capture every customer.

gotwaz1mo ago

Think about what your own needs are. Moats are only required till the need is meet.

vitalikpieOP1mo ago

Sorry I'm dumb. had to ask LLM what you mean.

Do you mean

Your moat only matters until you’ve solved a real user need. Once the need is clearly being met, the moat matters less than trust, adoption, and execution.

If yes - I wonder what does it mean for a product.

Do you mean that after need is met (PMF reached) no one can beat: - brand - distribution - support - community?

gotwaz1mo ago

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse