Ask HN: Which companies gained a competitive edge purely via engineering?
For example: WhatsApp or Crash Bandicoot (1996)?
A long long time ago: Oracle
Uh, wut?
Try “Sun Microsystems”!
That is another company that built an advantage with engineering, true.
Google search was way better than yahoo or altavista
Whatsapp, really?
I recommend to read about WhatsApp how they scaled to nearly 1 billion users with only about 50 engineers. Also check how they optimised BE system.
Before FB acquisition:
Yes, really, it ran on potato feature phones you've never even heard of. That can only happen if you really bend backwards to make it happen.
Massive userbase with very tiny team.
Okay. Cause it still feels like running on a potato phone on latest iphone :)
Garmin
In theory they still do. I can't imagine giving up weeks of battery life for wondering whether it's going to last through the day but apple/galaxy watch buyers see differently by a massive margin
SGI.
Hewlett Packard.
DEC.
Bell Labs
Crazy company. Not sure any has existed like it with possibly the exception of early Google