HOS-001: The Critic Was Wrong, They're Not My Competitors
Published: December 18, 2025 - 4 min read
This should be a quick blog post. I'm writing it to address a verdict given by Isaac Ledger, my Chief Growth Accountability Officer, on my Hall of Shame. Specifically, this addresses Item HOS-001.
If you have no clue what I'm talking about, here's the quick backstory: I wrote about my fear of posting online after my first Reddit post, then I introduced the Hall of Shame (and Isaac Ledger) as a system to transform criticism into growth opportunities.
From now on, every time I address a curriculum item from Isaac, it will start with the tag HOS to signify Hall of Shame.
The Feedback in Question
Here's what we're working with:
The Comment: "It's almost like lebonpatron.com and Antidode haven't existed for 'decades'."
Isaac's Verdict: "Ms. Prisca, this feedback is a compound. The critic implies your solution lacks novelty, which warrants reflection on competitive differentiation. However, the dismissive tone obscures any constructive path forward. I have extracted the 15% that is useful: research your competitors. The remainder has been filed under 'motivation fuel.'"
Isaac told me to research my competitors. So I did.
The Research
First things first: the search took a bit longer than expected because of some spelling issues in the original comment, but I eventually tracked down both tools. "lebonpatron.com" is actually BonPatron, and "Antidode" is Antidote.
I've now looked at both products thoroughly.
And no, they are not my competitors. I don't actually have competitors.
Why Specificity Changes Everything
The French Writing Playground was built for a past version of Prisca who wanted something very specific for daily French writing practice. That specificity shows up everywhere in the application:
- The way the interface is designed
- The encouraging messages you receive based on your mood
- The animations included throughout the experience
- How submitted text is evaluated and then stored in the collage
- Even the original absence of authentication was intentional (I only added it to Version 2 to transform it from a simple writing app into a social media application)
BonPatron and Antidote do not have these features. They weren't built to solve the same problem I was solving.
The Philosophy Behind This
I now have access to tools that allow me to solve my own problems at close to lightning speed. And one thing I learned during the SDR Era is that I must chase my curiosity when it comes to finding ways to solve problems that I have.
Not necessarily for the sake of creating the application that is better than every other one out there at solving that problem. But to learn during the process of solving that problem and then create a tool that serves my needs specifically.
If a tool serves my needs, it probably serves the needs of a number of others as well. It's just my job to find those people and share the gift of the French Writing Playground with them.
Closing Thoughts
So yeah, I just thought I'd make this post since I did commit to addressing whatever issues are pointed out by Isaac Ledger.
If you want to see Isaac's full verdict on this item (or any future items), you can visit the Hall of Shame directly. It's where I track all feedback, both constructive and purely negative, and where Isaac transforms criticism into curriculum.
As always, thanks for reading!