> Shall we give up and start working on something else?
You'll no doubt be told by a lot of folks that you should ignore the competition and execute against your original plans. In principle, this is the correct advice.
But this "We found competition! What should we do?" question seems to be coming up frequently enough that I'm going to give the opposite advice, however harsh it may seem: yes, you may want to consider giving up.
Here's why.
If you never contemplated the possibility that you'd have competition, and that the competition might be better funded and further along than you, which is almost a given in today's market, you did not start your venture with realistic assumptions.
If the existence of competition worries you enough to consider abandoning your venture before you have even launched and after you have asked others to invest money in it, you must honestly ask yourself whether you will have the stomach to keep going when you encounter real challenges, like technical hurdles that threaten your existence or disagreements with your friends/co-founders.
Bottom line: it's virtually impossible to start a successful business with a weak hand. If the opportunity you're pursuing is not compelling enough to keep you from becoming easily discouraged by the slightest challenge before you are even in the market, wait until you find an opportunity that is.
Good luck!
You'll no doubt be told by a lot of folks that you should ignore the competition and execute against your original plans. In principle, this is the correct advice.
But this "We found competition! What should we do?" question seems to be coming up frequently enough that I'm going to give the opposite advice, however harsh it may seem: yes, you may want to consider giving up.
Here's why.
If you never contemplated the possibility that you'd have competition, and that the competition might be better funded and further along than you, which is almost a given in today's market, you did not start your venture with realistic assumptions.
If the existence of competition worries you enough to consider abandoning your venture before you have even launched and after you have asked others to invest money in it, you must honestly ask yourself whether you will have the stomach to keep going when you encounter real challenges, like technical hurdles that threaten your existence or disagreements with your friends/co-founders.
Bottom line: it's virtually impossible to start a successful business with a weak hand. If the opportunity you're pursuing is not compelling enough to keep you from becoming easily discouraged by the slightest challenge before you are even in the market, wait until you find an opportunity that is.
Good luck!