Re:Ask HN: Are you put off building something because it alr...
by c0vfefe on Monday April 29, 2019 @11:00AM
(#19778938)
> If you haven't heard of any one of them by the time you are done conceiving it you are in the exact same position as the other companies are
This assumes that you can do meaningful research without ever Googling the problem space, which is virtually the same as finding competitors. And if you don't research at all while conceiving it, how exactly would you hear about competitors?
> don't bother mapping it until you've established your position well enough that you are actually in competition, until that time it is usually a waste of time.
Trying to open, say, a grocery store without the knowledge of a Walmart down the street sounds like the definition of wasted time.
There are far more potential customers that haven't heard from either of you yet. So your next order of battle then becomes to try to contact as many of those potential customers ahead of any of your - would be - competitors.
Competition is healthy it keeps you sharp, but don't bother mapping it until you've established your position well enough that you are actually in competition, until that time it is usually a waste of time.
On the other side of all this: if you have heard of a particular company that executes on an idea you have had as well then unless you are willing to eventually go head-to-head with that company you may as well leave it alone. Chances are they are so far ahead on the 'mindshare' metric that a head-to-head battle will be extremely costly leaving you with a much diluted share in your own venture once all is said and done. If you're comfortable with that go ahead but if I were in the position of a founder I'd prefer a start-up where the founders had majority control until at least well past series 'A'.