Somewhat bucking the trend, I'd say it's a reason to at least consider what effects the existing competition has. May not be a reason to abandon it, but if, for example, you were considering offering freemium webmail, it'd be worth considering to what extent existing offerings like Gmail and Hotmail affect the landscape. Do they put so much downward pressure on prices that you can't realistically hope to charge enough to be profitable? Is there scope for offering better enough services, to at least some non-zero-sized niche of potential customers, to overcome that? Etc. I think you definitely can't assume they don't exist: if you just make a Gmail, even a somewhat better Gmail, you will have a lot of trouble competing with Google on Google's terms, and against their cash pile.
Ask HN: If someone else is "doing it", is that a reason not to compete?
21–23 of 23 posts
Re: Ask HN: If someone else is "doing it", is that a reason not to compete?
#22Don't ever doubt yourself and your ideas.
You will fail if you don't believe in what you're doing. You need to convince investors of your passion and conviction towards your ideas. They need to believe in you, but first, you need to believe in yourself and your capabilities and your own ideas.
Did GM hesitate to compete with Ford?
Did Pepsi hesitate to compete with Coke?
Did LSD hesitate to... well you get my point.
Re: Ask HN: If someone else is "doing it", is that a reason not to compete?
#23You shouldn't look at it this way. Rather look at it like this: If there is competition, it means that there's a market. If there's a lot of competition then the market is healthy.
As long as you don't just add incremental changes, go for it.