Entering a market and competing
I've had a few comments about www.bootcampindex.com and the fact that there are already options in this space like Course Report and Upswitch.
I don't think entrepreneurs should ever be afraid of entering a market just because there are already people there. I've had a few people DM me about this as if I didn't know these companies exist which is a bit odd, but there you go.
But you never see this with companies IRL.
You'll never hear someone tell a cafe owner, "but there's already a cafe in LA. Why are you opening a cafe?"
Any way, I think if you can make a better product you should always compete. It's the nature of businesses, after all, to compete.
I made a long Twitter thread about this if anyone wants to check it out as well.
This is spot on.
I've also often thought about the fact that many successful startups are successful because they duplicate functionality that already exists on other platforms, but offer a better or more focussed experience, or approach the space with some particular angle. For example, comparing various social media to Facebook:
Instagram => Facebook but only pictures
Twitter => Facebook but only 140 characters
WhatsApp => Facebook but without everything except messenger
Snapchat => Facebook but only videos, also they disappear
Mastadon => Facebook but won't sell your data
These comparisons are obviously a bit reductive, but hopefully get the point across.
yeah, good points! It seems odd that"but maybe someone can make it better" doesn't cross some people's minds for whatever reason.
This is a lighter manifestation of imposter syndrome. If someone is paying for your service and find value in it, then you have every right to be in business.
You’ve got the right attitude. Sadly a lot of people are too timid to push their own ideas forward and often project that timidity onto others. The only qualifier you should ever care about is “can I do better than what exists and make that compelling to customers?”
Anybody who barks at that should watch the movie The Founder or read the book it’s based on by Ray Kroc, Grinding it Out.
Because physical location can be a very defensible competitive differentiator. Not the same thing.
And most importantly, with a physical location most people are going to come on their own and make the first contact. While online, you have to interrupt them with ads..
Never bought an ad in my life
This comment was deleted 6 years ago
Except that with content marketing, there is a lot of patience and luck involved especially with Search engines, hit or miss.
There are exceptions to these of course, but I was talking about most general cases.
Exactly, the physical location is the primary channel of marketing itself. You lease a great place and that's it.
On the internet, you have to pay for domain name + hosting + ads + dev costs + creatives (UX, copywriting, targetting...).
Hey @petecodes The URL of Bootcamp Index seems to be re-directing back to IH's homepage rather than the product page.
I agree with your above statement. Also, it's not likely that people have come across or heard about all the possible websites for their purpose so there is still gap in the market to create a solution and show it to the people who need it.
Love your example of the cafe haha. I've seen cafes which opened less than a year ago do much better than the cafes which have been running for a longer period.
hey man, I changed the URL so thanks for that!
Yeah, there is definitely a gap in the market here and for lots of people.
Courtland has used a restaurant example before but I swear I came to this realisation myself, haha! Yeah, fresh blood can make all the difference!
Hey Pete, just checked out Bootcamp Index. Really nice and I can see what you did there since it connects with No CS degree haha great thinking and execution :)
Just two suggestions from my side, think it would be better to have the No CS Degree button at the bottom on the right bottom corner rather than the left bottom corner. It'll probably be more noticeable unless you don't want to make the button obvious to the visitors.
Maybe my eyes are playing up, if not the search bar isn't too visible, maybe adding a different colour or increasing the colour around the search box might help.
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
-- George Bernard Shaw
Steve Jobs Story - the iPod was not the first digital music device. It was the upteenth product in a busy market. Apple just delivered a better experience. To survive and thrive, deliver a better product, as you mentioned. Good luck Pete, you can do this.
Thank you! Yeah, another great example.
I guess all ideas have been executed by now. It's now how you make it different. I've in the same position. I'm trying https://talktroop.com in the digital marketing world but it's a new method.
oh, there are always new ideas! Or new ways to present ideas. As Courtland has said in the podcast, Indiehackers wasn't the first time anyone had interviewed entrepreneurs.
There are also plenty of new ideas emerging as technology itself and culture changes. 5 years a go for example a VR or AR business didn't seem viable. Now it does.
Definitely! Tastes change all the time. I'm sure there is a growing list of businesses built around Tiktok, for instance
This comment was deleted 6 years ago
hey, yeah you're right! That's the plan.