i'm doing monthly calls with my direct competitor and it's the best thing i've done this year

most founders treat competitors like enemies. that's a mistake.

i've been on monthly calls with a guy building almost the exact same product as me. Redditgrow.ai for me and .... (no citation now, I wait the end of the challenge) same features, same target market, same problems. and instead of ignoring each other or talking trash, we share everything. what's working, what's not, where we're stuck.

we even made a bet. whoever has less mrr at the end of may has to publicly promote the other's product. no prize money, no contract. just pride on the line.

and tbh that single bet has done more for my motivation than any productivity hack i've tried.

here's what i think people get wrong: your real competition isn't the guy building the same thing as you. it's the market not knowing your category exists yet. when there's only two of us solving the same problem, we're both better off if the space grows. a rising tide and all that.

but also, the guy building the same thing as you is the only person who actually understands your specific problems. your friends don't get it. your users only see the surface. this competitor knows exactly why you're losing deals and where your positioning is weak, because he's facing the same stuff.

we've caught each other's blind spots more than once.

the bet keeps it competitive enough that neither of us gets lazy. but the calls keep it honest. it's a weird dynamic and i wouldn't have predicted it working.

curious if anyone else has done something like this, or if you think i'm setting myself up to get played