Someone else had your idea first

Re:Someone else had your idea first by alain94040 on Thursday January 08, 2015 @07:32PM (#8859996)

I think the author got it wrong. I also ask that same question "isn't X or Y already doing this?" to most startups that pitch me. I'm not trying to make the founder feel bad, or sound smart, or anything like that. I say this because I want to find out what they do different. I'm signaling that I'm already aware of those other companies, and I want to know:

(a) if they are already successful, how you'll beat them

(b) if they failed, why you think you won't fail

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Re:Someone else had your idea first by chacham15 on Thursday January 08, 2015 @11:29PM (#8860755)

> I also ask that same question "isn't X or Y already doing this?" to most startups that pitch me. I'm not trying to make the founder feel bad, or sound smart, or anything like that.

The question itself is adversarial because it assumes that you understand completely what the founder is doing and implies that it isnt any different from X or Y. Thats why people like Paul Graham who want to know the same thing phrase it differently: "how are you different from X or Y".

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Re:Someone else had your idea first by Alex3917 on Thursday January 08, 2015 @08:10PM (#8860144)

That's actually what the original post was saying, albeit I had to reread it a couple times to figure that out.

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