The Competitor Gut Punch

That moment you discover your idea is not original, and there are at least 7 competitors in the space.

This series focuses follows the spnsrmnstr startup journey. Be sure to sign up for early access when we’re ready at spnsrmnstr.com.

As founders we get on the roller coaster for the ride, not knowing what to expect, but knowing that familiar climb to the top. That chain sound as it raises your car to the apex of the track… ca-chunk, ca-chunk, ca-chunk… and then there you are on top of the world before speeding towards what feels like certain death at 70+mph. Know the feeling? That’s kind of where we are at today.

We’ve been on that initial idea climb… excitement, anticipation and mystery. The spark of ideas keep flowing. This is it, we have a winner! Then we move on to idea validation and research.

And that’s where the gut punch comes in, realizing your brilliant idea is not the first of its kind, and not so brilliant. Other people have had your idea and built a successful business on it, with a multi-year head start. A lot to swallow for sure.

This is simply part of the journey. It is difficult to sustain the climb of excitement. There will always inevitably be a downslope. Building a new idea is indeed a rollercoaster ride. It’s how we emotionally deal with findings, set backs and more that indicate what the future holds for our own project.

Emotional Intelligence is key

Instead frame it differently:

• Be happy there is demand, the market is proven
• Be happy others may have failed before you so you can learn from their mistakes
• Know you can build it better by looking at and finding holes in a competitor’s offering
• Focus on your killer feature that others aren’t using/doing

On that rollercoaster ride, after rocketing down a decline at 70+mph we inevitably rise agin on the next hill to sustain the momentum. In short, this is an opportunity, not a failure. Don’t get dismayed that someone else has built what you want to build. Ford had a 100 year head start on Tesla. Uber disrupted and transformed a century old taxi system. How many food delivery services are there? I guarantee you there is more than 1.

Ford had a 100 year head start on Tesla. Uber disrupted and transformed a century old taxi system. How many food delivery services are there? I guarantee you there is more than 1. — head mnstr

Jared Friedman of Y-Combinator states in his video “How to Get Startup Ideas” for Future Founder track for Startup School 2020 that

It’s really easy, when you look at successful companies today, like Google or Facebook, to think, “Wow, that was such a brilliant idea.” But I can tell you it only looks that way in hindsight. When Google started, it was, like, the 20th search engine. And when Facebook started, it was, like, the 20th social network. What made them successful wasn’t a brilliant initial idea. It was a good enough initial idea, combined with great execution. — Jared Friedman

Emotional intelligence is key. Stay middle of the road throughout the highs and lows. Expect and know there will be challenges, setbacks and even people who want to see you fail. In all of it, stay glass half full and look for the opportunity to learn from it instead of falling into the “woe is me” trap.

That time Adobe ate Quark Xpress for lunch

Competition is good for business. It kills complacency. It keeps you nimble, aware, forward thinking. In the mid 1990s Quark XPress owned the desktop publishing landscape. If you needed to make anything for print, Quark XPress was the go-to program. And it sucked. And it was rarely updated.

Then came Adobe in the later 1990s and early 2000s with PageMaker. It was different and better. It had a new version and better features every year. And they ate Quark for breakfast. Designers loved the new Adobe UI and features. Quark thought they owned the market, rested on their laurels and were blown out of the water never to be heard from again by Adobe.

Don’t get depressed. Don’t stop. Just do it better.

– head mnstr 😈

spnsrmnstr is an early-stage startup based in the USA focused on bringing brands and creators together to build lasting relationships.