Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched

Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched - what to do?

#1

Post by iamyoohoo » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 5:16 PM UTC

We are still working on our product while a competitor product has launched and is getting traction from some top retailers already (we are in the retail ecommerce space). They do not have all the pieces we have so our platform is far better and we're mid way in development so we can't really cut scope now.

What do we do? Start selling with "product coming" promises? The product is in the large company space so the selling process takes a few months, so getting a headstart may not be a bad idea.

Thoughts?

Re: Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched - what to do?

#2

Post by jellisjapan » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 5:23 PM UTC

How is their current marketing and recognition? It might be worth it to start up an early marketing strategy and at least out-market them before you actually can launch. I don't know about the retailers, but some of them may be willing to wait on purchasing a product if they knew something better was coming along later.

Re: Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched - what to do?

#3

Post by bobbywilson0 » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 5:30 PM UTC

"we can't really cut scope now"

Why not?

Re: Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched - what to do?

#4

Post by Roridge » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 5:34 PM UTC

Keep at it. If your product is better, you will win.

Try not to give those "coming soon" promises, you don't want to be under even more pressure.

Good luck

Re: Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched - what to do?

#5

Post by iamyoohoo » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 5:36 PM UTC

bobbywilson0 wrote: post #3

"we can't really cut scope now" Why not?

Because a) we're mid-way through all of the modules we're building. b) Those are the pieces that would differentiate our offering. If we didn't have those, it would be the same as the competition which means we're late in the game with almost the same product and no customers yet c) if we cut, we would have to start over again for the ones we left hanging - or at least have to do quite a bit of rework

Note: we have a team of 6 developers working on this, so it's not a 1 person thing.

Re: Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched - what to do?

#6

Post by iamyoohoo » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 5:38 PM UTC

jellisjapan wrote: post #2

How is their current marketing and recognition? It might be worth it to start up an early marketing strategy and at least out-market them before you actually can launch. I don't know about the retailers, but some of them may be willing to wait on purchasing a product if they knew something better was coming along later.

I think you are right - and we're leaning towards that. Just get the conversation going so we can get some traction since the sales cycle will most likely be 3 months at least. Our product will be production ready by then.

My only worry is talking about products and someone really wants to go and we won't be able to right away.

Re: Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched - what to do?

#7

Post by iamyoohoo » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 5:39 PM UTC

Roridge wrote: post #4

Keep at it. If your product is better, you will win. Try not to give those "coming soon" promises, you don't want to be under even more pressure. Good luck

The product is "much" better. However, once they get a few key customers - it's all about traction and they can sell others based on the first few. That's the worry here.

Re: Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched - what to do?

#8

Post by pinksoda » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 5:44 PM UTC

What's your competitors site?

Re: Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched - what to do?

#9

Post by bgnm2000 » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 5:50 PM UTC

Go sell your product now. Get some evangelists. The worst thing to do is wait, because unless your product is going to save someone time/money - there won't be a real value in switching for some nicer features if they've already put the effort into registering with your competition.

Re: Ask HN: We're still developing - A competitor has launched - what to do?

#10

Post by dskhatri » Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 6:03 PM UTC

What about your trusted customers? Do you have any customers you are working with to develop your product? If they still believe in your product, keep working hard on it. Release a version - with fewer features than you planned on - sooner. What do people think about this suggestion? It sounds reasonable to me but I'm basing it on others' advice (Steve Blank on customer development) and not on experience.