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Ask HN: Enter market with a well-funded competitor?

2 pointsby _whm1over 9 years ago
Hi HN, i am just looking for a quick unbiased opinion.<p>Without giving too many details, a few weeks ago a friend of mine had an idea for a SaaS application, targeting a market of small to medium sized companies in a variety of industries.<p>After some research it turns out there is already a company doing this and they are set up pretty good 300k+ funding, 8 team members, decent sales network and have been around since late 2013. However, we think their product is rather shitty.<p>We both have a technical background and we are sure we could get a MVP together that is at least on the same quality level as their product within 2-3 months (coding in our free time).<p>This would be our first entrepreneurial adventure, but i have worked in several startups as a developer before, so i know the mindset and have a pretty good understanding what we need to prioritise.<p>They have a big headstart but we believe the market is large enough for two or even more competing companies.<p>So, should we give it a shot? Any advice is appreciated

1 comment

brudgersover 9 years ago
300k funding for 8 developers is less than a year of runway at $40,000 per year and with no expenses (or income). That&#x27;s not very much and they&#x27;re probably a disproportionate amount on SEO&#x2F;marketing rather than product which is why you heard about them after a little basic research.<p>The difference is perhaps in their commitment to execution, i.e. it&#x27;s a company with working code for some definition of &quot;working&quot; as opposed to sitting on the fence worrying about competition. Therein lies the critical question, &quot;Does it matter that there&#x27;s competition?&quot;<p>Good luck.