If you are a #founder and have pitched to investors – you would have almost certainly been asked this:
What if “Google” or “XYZ” (replace with the largest player in your segment) builds a competing product?
1. Know your competition and their products. Just because a large company enters a space, it does not guarantee their success. Orkut, Google+, Glass…. and let’s face it Apple and Samsung did not wipe out smartphone competition
2. Size matters – success for Google means billion of dollars or billions of users. For you the startup, even a few million dollars might do. 😀
3. Know your target segment better than anyone else and aim to serve them better than anyone else
4. Domain knowledge and convenience – just because you can find airfares on Google does not mean that Makemytrip, Yatra, Expedia, Priceline can’t make a good business out of it.
5. Innovation – Creative solutions can outsmart the largest of competitors. Budget constraints can add fuel to the creative fire.
So be at it, and return that fast serve with a winning return (tennis) or that bouncer with a sixer (cricket).
How do you answer?