

Ask HN: building a product for 6 months, beaten to the punch - justaprogrammer

HNers, what do you do when you're beaten to the punch by a competitor?<p>I've been working on a service/product for the past 7 months. Everything was going great with a fantastic response from beta testers. Now, a few weeks before our public release, a competitor has brought out a very similar service. They're getting plenty of coverage as the first to enter into this segment of the market.<p>Am I screwed? Without the first mover advantage, it feels like all my work may have been a waste.
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kfullert
I say carry on - if there's a competitor, there's validation there's a need
(assuming the competitor is making money) - focus on what differentiates you
from them, and keep at it!

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ableal
Seconded. Amazon was late to the "sell books on the internet" party, but
first-mover books.com was sold to Barnes and Noble around 2000 or so.

