I was at a rock show and before the singer started she said make sure to go out back and get a burger. The placement of the back button in the title allowed me to skip this post. It would have made a heavier impact at the end of the story, "Now hit the back button."
Competition is overrated
11–14 of 14 posts
Re: Competition is overrated
#12A friend of mine supplies all of the sand for making cement in his area, thanks to perfect storm of regulation shutting down his competitors. With a grin he is fond of saying "A monopoly is a terrible thing...not to have". I think every business person harbors this fantasy sometimes. But for innovative products, competition is validation. For you, your customers and your investors. The reason is that innovation bring…
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Re: Competition is overrated
#13It's interesting to note in light of the Garry Tan quote at the top that Posterous recently started a campaign targeted directly at its competition[1]. I think it's a great quote, just trying to emphasize that it's applicable to the early stages but not necessarily the later ones. [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/posterous-thinks-your-startup...
That Garry Tan quote is really a PG quote. I lost count of the number of times Paul said that during YC.
Amen.
Re: Competition is overrated
#14Great quote: "Startups are primarly competing against indifference, lack of awareness, and lack of understanding — not other startups." Couldn't agree more.
Agreed on the quote. It's so easy to get wrapped up in your competitors. But if competitors have bad products, that leads to focusing on doing a bad thing just a little bit better, which doesn't lead to a great product.
That's why talking to your customers and focusing on indifference, awareness and understanding are so critical.