Got my first 35 sign-ups and a strong competitor emerged.
Hey Guys, Hope you are being kind to yourself!
Having a long day at 18:00.
I challenged myself recently to get to profit in under 100 * 25 mins (pomodoro).
I thought i had a good idea and some friends was keen. I am now 38 pomos on.
I create a landing page,
I chat a little on Twitter,
I market a bit on LinkedIn,
and I posted a couple of times on Twitter.
This morning I woke up and see 8 new sign-ups.
Life is good. Someone sends me a competitor.
I visit them, and dang they are good. They have some really cool features.
Panic mode takes about 3 hours and then settles.
What a time to be alive!
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i'm sure you know this already, but competition is a good sign!
Thanks for the reminder. I forget :)
It really is, it validates your niche. Keep going!
100% I've been through the same roller coaster of emotions. When I see a competitor with great design and good features, I use them as inspiration and double down on my niche. Keep at it, competition validates your product idea!
Thanks friend, It took me a bit I need to get the emotion out of my eyes and now i can start looking for inspiration.
The 35 organic sign ups is amazing as well! 35 real people would pay money for your product. I think that would also be highly motivating. :)
It has me foaming at the mouth practically :)
I hate seeing all these features competitors have and we don't! :D
Amen, It truly haunts me :)
Keep up your work!
Thanks Bucky! You too bro!
It's great to hear that you challenged yourself and have already achieved some success with 8 new sign-ups. It's important to remember that success is a journey, and it's not always going to be smooth sailing. It's common to encounter competitors that may have cool features, but it's important to focus on what makes your product or service unique and valuable to your target audience.
It's also important to take breaks and not let panic mode take over for too long. Taking breaks and practicing self-care can help you approach challenges with a clearer and more productive mindset.
Overall, keep up the great work and continue to focus on the progress you've made rather than comparing yourself to competitors. Good luck!
Its a really interesting journey.
I appreciate how many super helpful people there are in this community :)
Thanks for taking the time vijaycc it is good to remember that this is not smooth sailing and to buckle up for the storm.
Use the competition as a motivator to build something better than them! I'd love a bit of competition with my startup Userdoc https://userdoc.fyi. There are other tools similar, but nothing exactly like our modern requirements management tool. No competition does have a nice ring to it, but I think a bit of healthy competition is a major advantage.
Good luck!
I see your point Claire, I am quite motivated to make a better product now :)
Ideas are starting to criticize out of things that we can do really well.
great job on the signups! that means that you've got something going that interests people and also it sounds like there is a market that is big enough for both of you (although of course you should validate that)
I definitely agree with some of the other comments about using the competitor as inspiration and a data point for the decisions you make with your product but I also really stress that the main people you should be listening to in order to figure out how to develop your product is those 35 signups.
If you can interview them and understand thier needs and what they want to accomplish then you can prioritize the functions/features that matter the most and you might also find golden nuggets that your competitor doesn't have.
I don't know what your industry and product is but if its an emerging area, its too early to just rely on doing 1 or 2 of the same things better than your competitor. There is the risk that someone else could come along and blow both of you away so you've got to keep exploring and innovating!
Hey Fama, Thank you for your reply.
We are in an extremely emerging area. We are trying to do automation with AI Autory.ai I can totally see your point about talking and interviewing the customer. Feeling safe in the niche features is way way too early right now.
I just got some very nice first emails from some clients and I will give real attention to what they say.
Looks awesome, I'm in the AI space too! Keep us updated with the journey 😎
I'm in a similar situation with ZitaSync (https://keasigmadelta.com/zitasync), except the competitor that keeps getting shoved in my face is free and open-source. There's a big commercial competitor too.
It can be an emotional roller-coaster even when you know existing competitors are usually a good sign. The condescending and rude "there's a better product available for free" message I got this morning still felt like a punch in the face. I still managed to get usable feedback from between the snarkiness, though (missing privacy policy link on the landing page). ;-)
Congratulations on the sign ups you've got so far.
Thanks for your reply Hans. That sounds like quite a painful message to receive. I have so far been spared but would like to try out your resolve for when the day comes that I receive such a message.
Thanks again for your feedback!