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Ask HN: How do startups compete in crowded spaces?

3 points by rolandtshen ↗ HN
I've seen a number of startups come out with products quite similar to older competitors, yet carve out a market for themselves. How do startups convince customers to choose them over a more mature company offering more services in those early stages?

Is it just a matter of targeting different customers and selling to them? Better marketing efforts? Or do you think they usually come out with a superior product off the bat?

Ex: Clearbit founded 4 years after FullContact, then newer competitors like Lusha Ex2: Middesk growing rapidly where Trulioo/Cognito had a 7 year headstart

3 comments

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mtmail
Customers don't know all competitors in a space like you do. A company might need a solution and only research a couple of days. I think it's not a matter of better marketing, just different marketing. In my industry niche some companies have fixed pricing per month, some per usage, some per seat, some target < 100 USD customers, some have only a free tier and the first paid tier is already 250 USD. There's no one pricing strategy that captures every customer. I have customers that only work with me because we're based in Europe (different data protection legislation), not related to anything in the product or pricing itself.
dheera
I cringe everytime I hear people (especially investors) talk about "spaces". It encourage a mindset similar to real estate where land is limited, and you claim pieces of it.

Markets and technologies are not bounded spaces. They only seem "crowded" because all the existing players are doing similar things, when in fact the entire pie could be made much bigger if you do things a different way.