HN Explorer

Discovering a (Popular) Competitor:(

4 points by barrylachapelle ↗ HN
We have all been there - you get super excited about a project and start building an MVP only to discover three weeks later someone has already done it. And, usually, has done it quite well.

This happened to me while starting on Bike Gear Database - https://www.bikegeardatabase.com (aka BGDB). I convinced myself I had stumbled onto a unique value prop for the bike industry. I started building out the stack and MVP like a madman. About a month in, a friend told me about the wonderful site called 99spokes which was everything that I had in my head for BGDB, and more.

At work, I was learning how to assess the value of websites using various SEO tools. A search at Ahrefs showed me that 99spokes had ranked for almost 75,000 keywords and were generating about 64k organic visitors a month.

I was crushed. How do you compete against that sort of traction? I ended up stopping work on BGDB because of it. A month or so later, I met a new friend named Alex, that had raised two companies from zero to acquisition. He understood BGDBs value. When I showed him 99spokes in Ahrefs he said, "this is a very good thing".

The moment he said it, my entire mind clicked! Of course, it was a good thing! This meant that the idea was validated and there was a business in it. Also, there was only one other company working on the problem. This got me very excited and I got back to work. I am super thankful for Alex helping me see that. Now the question is - how do I scale to compete? Is there a possibility for us to even work together? Etc etc. Momentum is picking up and I am having a ton of fun making BGDB.

How about you? Have you ever let discovering a competitor stop you? Motivate you?

5 comments

[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 17.7 ms ] thread
mindhash
I would be afraid if I don't find a competitor. It would mean lots of money for marketing.

The way I see it is, you have to be first something. a good example from 22 laws of marketing is - everyone knows who was first man to set foot on the moon. Second not so many. But then again people will remember first woman to do the same.

You have to be first at something..look for something that your audience cares but your comp hasn't paid attention or is in situation it can not. For example Google will never get into content writing business because it won't achieve planet scale. But they will do content tools. You must focus on stuff like this.

Second approach is to take a drag race strategy. Amplitude did this with mix panel.

zurfer
What is a drag race strategy?
AnimalMuppet
Literal drag races are all about acceleration, not sustained speed. So I suspect the strategy is, you may be ahead of you, but if I can accelerate faster than you, that won't matter, because I will catch you and pass you.
mromanuk
Totally agree, l read 22 immutable laws of marketing and 22 immutable laws of branding and Positioning too from the same authors and a few other books on the same venue. You need to be different and as you said be first on your niche. Please explain the drag race strategy
giantg2
Most of my projects are things I do for myself, either for learning or completing some task. If it's for learning, then I don't let it discourage me. If it's to complete a task, then I'll just use the established products.

I feel this would vary person to person. If you have the goal to monetize it, or use it to create some other value (employment prospects, social status, etc), then my approach probably doesn't fit. I've pretty much come to accept I will never make money nor increase my employability with my side projects.