Should I go on building an MVP even if I find better existing products?

Hi @metkor,

If I could relate a bit of my own experience, there's a big sense of relief when you ship something, even if it fails.

To me, the worse state is indecision, inaction, then regretting why I didn't do something.

Good luck! :-)

Do not assume your competitors:

• know what they are doing
• are profitable
• will market their product well
• have good customer service
• won't pivot to something else

Absolutely go for it. Remember that the iPod was not the first MP3 player. You might do a far better job than your competitors. They are proving there is a market, for one.

Even if you are on par with them, you give customers another choice. If for some reason they get angry with the others they can come to you.

This week I learned that the product I am almost ready to launch already has a competitor out there. Did I scrap it? No! I can differentiate myself from them in certain ways; presentation/approach, customization, price, service, business model, there are lots of subtle and overt ways to differentiate and excel.

Go for it. Make your MVP and pivot away.

Build it! At least your idea is already validated and people interested. We recently ran into a similar scenario when we were building https://feedmo.io. Midway through we noticed a very similar product: https://canny.io. We continued anyway and plan to add another dimension to make it a little different than Canny.

Are you building just to make sales or is learning a goal, too?

If you really just want to make sales, I'd try to make your product better on some dimension. It will likely be worse than other options in general when you first release it, but as long as it's the best at some specific thing or the best for some group of users, then you can probably get some sales. Over time as you improve it, it will appeal to a larger group.

You will more often find existing products and that's not a bad thing. It proves that a market exists for the the thing you want to build.

However, your product isn't just the thing that you build, it's the complete embodiment of your business model. If Company A and Company B both sell similar products, they can happily coexist if the market is big enough and they are selling to different segments of that market.

As an engineer you probably have the urge to write code and get something out there. However, as an engineer, that's probably the least risky part of your venture. It's also probably the thing you're most comfortable doing.

Resist that urge, instead, focus on the things you are less comfortable doing. Selling, strategy, market research. Those are probably the riskiest parts of your business. What's the MVP you need to have a sales call? What's the MVP you need to talk learn if there is a market need for your idea?

That's the approach I would take.

Yeah man, go for it!

If you find the idea exciting / interesting you should just jump in. Seems like you already want to anyway.

You never know what will come of it.

Also, the fact that there is already a market for it, and that people are already using similar services really validates the idea. It might be tough to compete, but at least you know there is a market out there for it.

@metkor Welcome to the club. The illusion of control. Failing is very soothing to me because I am in control when I failure. It's a terminal state. Success breads anxiety, uncertainty, fear. I don't like these things.

Suggestion: come join us on the slack channel and reach out to me. You and I can ship our products and overcome our fears, together. I need someone to help keep me on the path.

you should. you can also diversify in the niche.

I'm in the process of building an MVP for a client where there are many better options but his reasons for doing them are make a simpler product for a cheaper price and target a different market with less product awareness.

There are many more scenarios where making an inferior product makes sense. Sometimes we think of an inferior product as less features and what people need is a better UX with less features. Or just one key feature and basic features everywhere else. Take for example Google Docs vs. Microsoft Office.

Products can always evolve.

You can build it without worrying about already better products.

Just make sure you give the "Aha" moment to your users. To find that moment in your product, it's not necessary to build and launch an MVP.

Ditch an MVPs, and go for the MVPr (Minimum Viable Prototype). https://www.instagram.com/p/BoMmtbilQ0b/

Run Design Sprints to build and test your idea. And then start building the product that you can call it MVP. ;)

This way, you will increase chances of getting your product more successful in less time, money, and efforts.

A short answer is, do it, do not fear your competitors. Use them as some sort of benchmark to create something better by researching on what you can do better than them product wise. On the service side, if your competitors are offering better prices, focus on matching their prices and provide more concierge services to your customers, small things can payoff in unexpected ways. Don't focus to win your competitors but focus on winning the customers over. Your quest to do customers right will take you beyond your expectations - remember, customers first always, listen to them to fix your products and provide absolute customers service and you will win their hearts and they will spread the words for you. Good luck

I recently stumbled upon this talk about how to ask for feedback: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LwbFZkyRKk

Do you know people that are in the group of target customers for your idea? Then you should be able to do at least some validation. Just try to find out if they have the problem you want to solve and what they are currently doing about it. But without talking about your idea. Just asking simple questions and let them talk.

If there is a product that is really doing the same but better, I would try to find some unique selling points for your idea first.

Validating ideas is important but you do not want to spend a lot of time developing the idea. You must look for shortcuts.

I'd recommend mockups or rapid prototyping and then looking for feedback online or in person.

1. Building mockups helps you build better products.
2. Further, people are not capable of giving true feedback from verbal idea descriptions many times.

Even within Apple, PMs build mockups of apps using keynote. They built the keynote app using keynote. https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2016/805/

I've had the same issue for multiple years now. I have ended up with so many incomplete projects on my hands.

I have recently committed myself to launching my current idea. It's not the "best" idea I've ever had, and there is some pretty stiff competition in the market.

However, it's relatively easy to get an MVP out and I think I owe myself the follow through on a project. If it fails, at least I will have learned a lot.

If you're a pretty good developer, I'd recommend at least investing some time in how you would validate your idea.

I agree with the others here that trying and failing is a great way to learn, and releasing feels like a huge accomplishment.

But, and this is a big but: after the rush from the release, I've always been disappointed by the fact that nobody sees the app. There's a certain isolating/hollow feeling when you can't validate an idea because it's basically invisible.

Have some sort of plan to expose it to some audience. Otherwise, what you learn could be very limited.

And good luck! It's all interesting experiences! :)

share this tweet to encourage you. If Nathan Barry bother by existing product, there will be no convert kit.

https://twitter.com/AndrewWarner/status/1046889137834356736

I just wanted to point something out. The way you phrased the failing part makes it sound like you're aiming for failure. Don't. Aim for success having the courage to admit failure if it happens.

I think you learn way more from doing things right and having some success than from doing them wrong and aiming for failure.

Just for reference, I came across this idea in the book Rework and fully agree with it.

You already know the answer. Just commit to it hard, and get on with it.

Of course. You answered your own question when you said you wanted to try, build and fail. If you're ok with failure, or the distinct possibility of it, and want to build a product to increase your own skills and experience, then go for it. The best way to learn is by doing.

The fact is that there are usually better competitors out there, even for the most niche products, and even if you do come up with an original idea that's no guarantee it will succeed.

I'd suggest that you have a go, but don't sink a lot of money into it. Think of it as a learning exercise or a portfolio piece, with the small possibility of it paying off. Set your expectations appropriately and you'll gain whatever the outcome.