Difficult to say. If you feel confident that you can do better job and compete with them, keep going. Otherwise don't waste your talent and move on. On the other side, someone already said it - they may mess up.
Other startup got there before me. Stop or continue?
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Re: Other startup got there before me. Stop or continue?
#22Nobody should work for months on an iPhone app. The platform is not friendly to that style of app. Work for weeks, launch and test.
Re: Other startup got there before me. Stop or continue?
#23It depends on how close you are to completion. How much of your codebase can be repurposed to a less populated niche?
Re: Other startup got there before me. Stop or continue?
#24Do you have a good way to differentiate yourself? You say "all the features I was working on". Do you have a vision for something neat that they haven't done? That would be the factor I'd worry about.
If not -- if they've really done everything you intended to do -- I'd drop it, and take up a different project. If they're not scratching your itch, or not doing it quite right, then there's room in the market, because somebody else probably also has that itch.
To put it another way, would you rather use the product you've been working on (when finished) or the one they just released? If you'd rather use theirs than yours, then they got it right and you're doomed. Quit. If yours would be noticeably better, there's room. Continue.
Re: Other startup got there before me. Stop or continue?
#25I would say it depends on the type of tech and solution you're dealing with.. If it's an interactive children's book for example then the tech or resources required are minimal and it's more about your unique spin on the product than what's behind it.
If you're talking about creating the next iTunes, something that requires tremendous resources, or bleeding edge tech like Google Wave then you're probably right - you just won't have the resources to compete. Those are the kinds of products that a well funded company will always have a clear and definite advantage in producing.
Somewhere in between the two extremes is a large grey area where with a little bit of luck and determination anything is possible..
I would stay the course unless the financial burden is too great.. It's often the case that when you keep working towards a project goal you find new and interesting ways to tweak your product offering so that it becomes something entirely different and unique in the marketplace..
As long as you think there will be real demand for your product then there is always a chance to spin the marketing in such a way that makes your solution stand out from the rest. Feedback is critical as well.. So don't be shy about asking friends and family.
Your first concern should always be product/market fit not potential competitors.
Re: Other startup got there before me. Stop or continue?
#26If the pie is big enough, then you'll have your share. It's unreasonable to expect you to own 100% of your market. So if the market is big, there can be many players. Even the idea/product is same, you can still have your own presence.
Having competition just makes you work even smarter and harder than before. So go for it.
As a matter of fact, I'm in the same boat as yours, and I'm not giving up!
Re: Other startup got there before me. Stop or continue?
#27What is the functionality of your app? Get the MAIN functionality finished and release, don't worry about the "other functionality" right now. Release in small iterations, in amounts that a single person can handle. Follow this process and continually release features and improvements based on user suggestions.
It's ultimately up to how you feel with taking a risk, no one can tell you what to do. If you believe in the product, other people believe in it and you feel comfortable then go for it.
More resources on MVP:
http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/search/label/minimum%20... http://venturehacks.com/articles/minimum-viable-product-exam...
Re: Other startup got there before me. Stop or continue?
#28Thank you for the great comments everyone. I spent a few minutes playing with their app. It's already on the app store and it's free (so much for undercutting). While they've created a great app, I have a few ideas that may give my version a good shot. I'm going to sit down and have a think, put some more ideas together. Thanks again for the great input.
Re: Other startup got there before me. Stop or continue?
#29It may be a lost cause, or not. See if they mess up. Regardless, forget features-at-large and focus on the best features, which are: 1. It works. 2. It's easy to use. You can always one-up in those categories.
This is classic case of "talk yourself out of doing something". You got past the hurdle of actually starting, so now finish.
You think gowalla said, oh crap, foursquare beat us to it, we better stop?
If there is not already a clear category winner, then that spot is still completely up for grabs.
Re: Other startup got there before me. Stop or continue?
#30It is easy to say "just go for it". In reality, it is quite risky. Theoretically, it is possible to unseat a competitor like Google in search, or Facebook in social networking, but you really have to know what you are doing. In your case, a better approach is to do some customer development first. Speak to potential users of your product. Find out if they are dissatisfied with your competitor's offering. What will it…
What will it take to switch.
Why does he need anyone to switch? This competitor has just launched their product. That means they have very few users and almost no brand recognition. 99.9% of the world will have no idea who launched first and won't care.
You don't need to convince anyone to switch from your competitor's product. You just need to convince people to use your product, which is a problem you already had. In that sense, the launch of a competing product shouldn't affect your roadmap at all.
Longer term, you should be worried about the huge imbalance in resources. That's solvable, though: if you get any traction with your product you can raise funds and hire a team.