VC money, a good team, or a great product won't guarantee success. One (or two) factors alone won't ensure success. It's a sum-of-all-the-parts thing.
I think an important question to ask yourself is: how committed are you?
Not so much: then spent your time, money and energy elsewhere.
Very: then do a detailed (honest) analysis on your product and theirs and if it still makes business sense, keep at it. Sometimes it how much pain you're prepared to endure... or is that running? :)
Ask HN: A Well Funded Competitor Has Launched Before Me What Should I do?
21–30 of 84 posts
Re: Ask HN: A Well Funded Competitor Has Launched Before Me What Should I do?
#22Congratulations! The cash they raised is your free market research budget. Their VC is paying for many of the mistakes you will not have to make.
Re: Ask HN: A Well Funded Competitor Has Launched Before Me What Should I do?
#23Stop stealth'ing and start building awareness. Ride their we-were-funded marketing with your own I-am-here-too blitz.
Re: Ask HN: A Well Funded Competitor Has Launched Before Me What Should I do?
#24[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: A Well Funded Competitor Has Launched Before Me What Should I do?
#25Give up now.
I know I'm going to sound like a dick, but if your immediate reaction wasn't a strong feeling to out-smart and out-maneuver your competitor you're probably in the wrong place right now. Starting and running a company takes passion.
Re: Ask HN: A Well Funded Competitor Has Launched Before Me What Should I do?
#26This is great news. Somebody is spending huge amounts of money to help you figure out how to make money. Now your problem is much reduced: instead of doing all of it, you just need to figure out what they are doing and tweak the good parts and ditch the bad parts.
So how is their sales pipeline working? That's the key question. Where are leads coming from, how do they convert them, what are the major selling points.
Seriously, this is great news -- assuming you can get inside their OODA loop and wreak havoc. It's like having a big brother who made all the mistakes so that you don't have to. Requires thinking a bit differently, but you should be able to manage that. Good hunting.
Re: Ask HN: A Well Funded Competitor Has Launched Before Me What Should I do?
#27This sort of thing can have a chilling effect, but keep in mind that if they're "well-funded" they will need to have a profitable business model much sooner than you will. Hang in there!
Re: Ask HN: A Well Funded Competitor Has Launched Before Me What Should I do?
#28Stay your course, wait for them to make a mistake, pray that they do.
Re: Ask HN: A Well Funded Competitor Has Launched Before Me What Should I do?
#29Look at Duckduckgo they have a competitor who launched years earlier and has a hell lot more funding.
Now that brings it home.
Re: Ask HN: A Well Funded Competitor Has Launched Before Me What Should I do?
#30It proves your idea has promise. Read this - http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/08/03/down-with-innovation-up... Copy their best ideas, do the core things better, and kick their asses. Good luck.
In VC parlance, someone else launching doing the same thing "validates the space".