
Ask HN: What do you do if someone is already building what you wanted to build? - jaredsilver
…better than you think you can build it?
======
stray
Build it anyway.

I've been working on an app that I believe will be beneficial to millions of
people. And I've seen a few built and deployed that are _SOOOOO_ close -- and
even an announcement by a _VERY_ big player that is also close.

But frankly, I believe they've all misfired.

And that it's my app that will literally change the world.

So I keep plugging away.

Alone.

We'll see if anybody actually uses it though. It's always a crapshoot.

I already dropped the ball once when I had essentially the same idea as Lyft
or Uber -- but decided not to pursue it when I read Apple's rules against
transportation-related apps.

I'd be willing to bet that hundreds of us had that idea. It was _that_
obvious.

But Uber and Lyft actually built and deployed something.

And apparently those rules were rules that could be broken.

Oh well, live and learn.

~~~
hayd
What were the (broken) rules on transportation-related apps??

Best of luck not dropping the ball this time!

~~~
stray
I don't recall exactly.

It would be interesting if someone could dig up the old apple App Store Review
Guidelines from whenever Core Location first became available.

Currently it disallows _" Apps that use location-based APIs for automatic or
autonomous control of vehicles, aircraft, or other devices will be rejected"._

But I'm fairly certain that at the time it disallowed transportation industry
related apps, and specifically mentioned trucking and taxis.

Which was irritating to me because during the dot-bomb at the turn of the
century I had been reduced to the role of taxi driver for a time.

And the only way to actually get any fares through dispatch was to bribe
_everybody_ and especially the radio guys. I hated it and really had to work
hard to make money from people hailing me.

So when I first learned of Core Location, my first thought was "motherfuck
taxi dispatch - I can make them irrelevant with iPhones now".

Seriously, I'd love for someone to dredge up the old version of that document
so I can read over it again.

------
mamcx
According to the book "12 laws of marketing", that is a good thing. Mean exist
a market, and somebody is already targeting them.

Is like food stores cluster in a location, is easier if exist a way for the
customers to see "look, here is where food can be buy!"...

\---- Also:

Not only somebody else is building it, many must already do it... is _very
unlikely_ somebody _truly_ open a "new market".

\---

The same book say you must be the #1 in a market. Failing that (like the 99%
case) you must create a niche that make you the #1.

For example:

You can't be the #1 beer seller

But,

You can be the #1 beer with fruit flavors seller.

\---

I before stop to do like a _dozen_ of projects, scared by MS, Google, and
others when them announce some stuff (that sometimes, only vaguely :( ) were
similar to my ideas.

Now? I regret all that! None of the stuff they do was even closer to the style
I was looking for...

Now, I lost my opportunity to do fun/side projects (now, need to bring money
to the table). I'm trying to build 2 side projects, and despite are "common"
and I move slooowwwww (responsibilities!) I don't worry anymore: Is more
likely I will fail because myself, and even if I build a "copy-cat" is clear
that I will bring something else to the table, just because I'm not the
others...

So, don't stop ever because what are others doing.

------
jwatte
Either build it anyway, or join them, or sit back and wait until you can use
their thing. It depends on what your reasons for wanting to build it are.

------
metasean
> …better than you think you can build it?

If it's open-source, see where you can contribute, for example, documenting
the code or adding a feature you think they're missing.

If it's not open-source, see if they're hiring. In your cover letter mention
that you had a similar idea, but it differed in x, y, and z ways, and include
the pros and cons of your your different features and implementation methods.

~~~
yeukhon
Good points, but always depends right? I need this tool and it happens someone
has done the dirty work and will take forever for me to DIY (it requires a lot
of research and understand how X works). I used the tool, and I found a bug
which affected usage, and I fixed it because the tool was opensource.

But I always note I don't actually decide what goes into that software. I can
argue about why X feature is needed or why Y should be implemented in Z way,
but I don't own that repo. Of course this is the beauty of open source just
fork it (with the cavaet of watch the license which many probably doesn't care
or doesn't have the knowledge to understand what X license mean to a user and
to a contributor). But if I were to test my own ability and feel proud "yes I
build it from scratch" I will build one from scratch. There is just that one
idea that "I wish I was famous and getting tons of likes and respects because
I built something that hundreds of developers are benefiting, being original
creator vs a contributor.

------
yesimahuman
Very few people go the distance with their projects. If you think you'll be
someone that does, then go for it. We've had the biggest companies to startups
enter our space, and many already in it before we started. The difference, I
think, is that few have the courage or focus to push hard on it day after day
for years at a time.

~~~
kls
This is what I was thinking well staffed and funded projects have a high rate
of failure, bootstrapped and underfunded projects have an even higher rate of
failure. The odds are that project will never hit the market in the first
place.

------
rabbyte
Nobody cares about calling dibs. People will move to the product that provides
the best value; a subjective assessment that is constantly being re-evaluated
as conditions are ever-changing. Also, execution never looks the same even if
the ideas are identical.

If you think you can build something of value for people and you care about
the problem then do it or join others already doing it. If a competitor makes
a mistake, learn, and if they succeed, adapt. Everything else is a distraction
from solving actual problems.

------
zhte415
Build it. Not anyway, just build it. Two houses on the same of the street,
built by different neighbours, may be or less similar. The street gets better
by 2+ neighbours focusing on making the street better.

~~~
stephengillie
Not everyone uses Cisco, some people use Juniper. Not everyone uses HP, many
use Dell and others. Not everyone has a LAMP stack, some prefer SQL Server,
IIS, and .NET.

There's many ways to differentiate. Maybe yours can be more featureful. Maybe
it can be simpler; not everyone wants everything to be covered in options.
Maybe you can iterate faster; maybe you can offer more stability and a more
"corporate-aligned" update schedule.

Look for people who don't like the other person's product, find out why, learn
from their mistakes, and try to serve users that they ignore.

------
bink-lynch
Check this 'It can turn out ok' comment[0] from this post[1]:

[0]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9663904](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9663904)
[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9663203](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9663203)

------
zxcvvcxz
It's your call man. As another poster mentioned, it really is all in the
execution. If you don't believe you can compete and out-execute on some
worthwhile dimension, then give up.

Otherwise quit second guessing yourself and get back to work.

------
adventured
Someone will always be either building what you'd like to, or chasing after
you with a competitive product trying to eat your lunch.

Any market worth being in, will have plenty of competition early on.

Primarily you have to ask yourself if you can add value to the segment you're
talking about. If you have something worth-while to offer customers / users.
Such questions remain regardless of the competition or lack thereof. If you've
got something valuable to offer, build it. There is always an angle to take
against a seemingly superior competitor, whether that's on price, features,
support, customization, ease of use, et al.

------
neomech
It depends. If I'm building it for my education/fun I'll carry on. If I'm
building to use or for others to use, I'll move on to something else. I have
way more project ideas that time to work on them, so I don't want to waste my
time.

------
neilellis
As the T-Shirt says: [http://www.headlineshirts.net/its-all-in-the-execution-
t-shi...](http://www.headlineshirts.net/its-all-in-the-execution-t-
shirt.html#.VYRlphNVhHw)

It's all about the execution. If two people have a great idea the winner will
be the one who executed better.

i.e. They scaled better, they used appropriate tools, they had a functioning
team, they moved first, they listened to customers, they pivoted and stayed
agile, they remained focussed on their goal etc. etc.

On the other hand, some products have network effect, which can make them hard
to assail once they've got momentum.

Also don't forget the 10x 'rule' \- you need to be 10x better than an existing
product if you're doing the same as an established product.

As others have mentioned you may also be attacking different market segments
e.g. business/consumer, geographical region, age group, etc.

Come to think of it, aren't there one or two books on the subject ;-)

------
thaumaturgy
Be relieved that you have one less project to accomplish in your lifetime and
move on to the next thing you'd like to do.

------
inguinalhernia
How many things are brand new and innovative? Most aren't, most are
iterations, or just a more successful effort at something that has been done
before.

If you want to build it, build it anyway. Build it for passion, for the
experience, for interest, or for any other reason. Or don't, that is ok too.

------
Seth_R
Keep on building it and make it happen.

We wrote two blog posts that you might find useful if you're in this kind of
situation:

1\. Why you should share your “secret” startup idea with anyone who will
listen:

[http://www.kilometer.io/blog/why-you-should-share-your-
secre...](http://www.kilometer.io/blog/why-you-should-share-your-secret-
startup-idea-with-anyone-who-will-listen/)

2\. Don’t build anything until you have a clear startup mission

[http://www.kilometer.io/blog/dont-build-anything-until-
you-h...](http://www.kilometer.io/blog/dont-build-anything-until-you-have-
clear-startup-mission/)

------
Elepsis
Why are you building this project?

If it is to learn something, the answer is obvious: build it anyway. You will
still learn pretty much all of the things you otherwise would have.

If it is because you feel that the world needs this thing to exist, and it'll
become a better place because it does: see if you can contribute to the other
people's work. If not, see if what they're doing meets that need and be happy
that other people shared your vision of a problem to be solved.

If it's because you wanted to make a company and earn a living: keep going.
There are thousands of niches in businesses. You can find yours.

------
Delmania
Keep building it, but don't release until the other people do. This will do a
few things.

First, it will vet out the market of the product. We are told to look for
something new and innovative, but truth be told, the best way to predict the
success of a product is to analyze the performance of similar product.

Second, it will give you some insights on areas within your own product to
improve as well as ideas on how to differentiate.

------
SpendBig
Have they deployed yet? Otherwise, build to ship first. Be first and expand
based on your users/buyers input. Motivate yourself to deploy asap.

~~~
mgold
To quote Alan Cooper, you don't want to be first to market, you want to be
best to market. Build something great and let your opponent make the painful
first inroads.

~~~
SpendBig
I believe there is no market for a single idea, you create a market by
pleasing them day after day. And imo the best way is to ship asap, get the
feedback, adjust en please.

But, it ofcourse depends on what your building, the info i miss in de main
question asked.

------
mrcold
Wait for a new idea. Each of us has very specific talents that others don't.
If you can find yours, you can be the one building it better. It's all about
maximizing efficiency. Ideas come and go. You don't have to jump on the first
one to succeed. Just on the one that makes the most sense.

------
Mz
How passionate are you about it? What do you want out of doing this? Why were
you doing this? Do those reasons still apply?

 _Execution is everything_ is a meme in part because execution reveals hidden
assumptions we did not know we had. Two people who nominally set out to do the
same thing, are probably not actually doing the SAME thing. Just like there
are millions of different cars that can all be called "cars" and yet have many
differences, projects can nominally be the same thing and yet not really.

------
TheHeasman
There are more variables in the success of a product than just whether
"something is built better".

\- Product personality (aka voice)

\- Initial Target Market's propensity to be enthusiastic about your product

\- And much more.

------
aespinoza
Don't give up. It is the power of competition. First of all if someone is
building the same it gives you some validation that your idea might be worth
it. Second of all, there will always be a lot of people that look like they
are working on the same thing, but the might not.

Do your analysis of the market, and iterate based on customer feedback. Your
idea might seem similar, but it might be completely different. The race is not
to build your idea, the race is to find out if the idea is worth it or not.

------
davismwfl
Just build it. I learned the hard way that worrying about other people is
useless, just execute. If you focus on executing and they worry about you, you
will win. So make their goal to focus on you and yours to focus on clients. In
the end clients will choose.

Rarely is the market so small only a few can survive, and if it is that small,
you are thinking too small. Markets worth going after can support multiple
companies.

------
zw123456
What if Zuckerberg gave up because someone already made Myspace? Or what if
Bill Gates decided not to build Windows because Apple already built the Mac?

~~~
astrodust
Second mover advantage is a thing. Just ask anyone who's a competitive
cyclist: Being able to draft behind someone and then break out at the finish
is a huge benefit.

The first mover has to work really, really hard to get ahead and stay there.

------
spinlock
Someone has always built what you're building. The only real question is do
you know who they are. It's actually a great exercise to find the last founder
(or two) who tried to execute your idea and figure out why they failed. Very
often it's timing so it will make a lot of sense to try again if you think the
world has changed in a way that will make your idea succeed this time.

------
thekevan
Think of the mini-van. Chrysler is credited with introducing the revolutionary
vehicle style. Now every car manufacturer has at least one, sometimes a couple
mini-vans in their lineup and they all make a bunch of money of them. What if
all those manufactures had said, "Naw, they already made it, we're not going
to."

So my response is, "So what". Build it anyway.

------
jbpetersen
Build essentially the same thing with a different scope.

Figure out how to make the same thing more general purpose, more specific
purpose, or different specific purpose.

Just make sure your version is different enough to avoid the trap of people
using the other version because it's "good enough".

Or find a way to collaborate with them.

------
itaysk
I don't think there are a lot of ideas that are so original that no one else
came up with them. Chances are someone is already working on your idea
regardless of what your idea is. You have the benefit of knowing who that
competitor is. Shouldn't stop you, but encourage you.

------
bane
Build it anyway, gain experience.

You know how there's only one personal computer platform because the other
guys all gave up? Oh right, there's a bunch! Because different things can fill
different niches, your take on the problem might fill some slightly different,
but large demographic.

~~~
angersock
I'll go one further:

Build your version, less better, and then just kick their ass in business.

Apple was eaten alive by shitty IBM clones in the PC wars. SGI and Sun were
decimated by commodity hardware. Linux destroyed a lot of high-end OSs and
platforms.

You don't have to _be_ better to _do_ better.

------
INTPenis
If another app solves all the issues I set out to solve in my own app, and is
in a language I am comfortable with, then I would try it out and see if I
could contribute somehow.

Then again I only program as a hobby and everything I make is open so I have
no financial motive to compete.

------
pknerd
At the end of the day you are giving another choice to people. Good or bad,
it's up to you.

------
mtshadow
The woods would be quiet if no bird sang but the one that sang best.

------
bernadus_edwin
You should stop, and research the competitor product. Try use it for few days.
After that, you will use the most suitable product for yourself, either
competitor or yours.

------
GTP
You can try to build better than they are doing and see if you are able to do
it otherwise try to find out if there's a way to help them building it.

------
umanghome
Build it anyway. You'll become many times the person you were before you
started building it.

------
meira
Copy him and do better. He probably copied someone else, too. Who performs
better, wins.

------
craiggess
what if you don't know someone else is building it? Does it matter if its
already out there? And if so aren't there intellectual property laws out there
so people can't steal or use some one else's idea?

------
vandeaq
Build it better / different / more focused.

~~~
FeatureRush
hard mode: the competitor is a YC company and you are not even in US

Would you answer the same?

~~~
stephengillie
So you get to learn from their mistakes, and you don't even have to start in
the same market!

You could even advertise yourself as being like your competitor, but the local
option. Sell them on the idea that by paying you instead of the competitor,
the money would stay in the community instead of going to the USA.

------
jalfresi
Contribute.

------
willwhitney
Help.

