Our main competitor started working on their product about at the same time as us. They raised about 4x as much as we did (basically a series A) and have 4x bigger team as well. They waited to launch. We launched earlier and with a far less polished product.
There's something different happening though, and it primarily has to do with execution. We do crazy shit to get traction, because we're scrappy as hell and aren't going down without a firefight. We're extremely lean and we all code, whereas their organization is far more bloated. The numbers belie the actual fairness of the fight. And moreover, we don't currently need a massive amount of money. Our burn rate is fairly low.
Here are a few things I've learned:
1. More bodies isn't better. More money isn't always better. Traction and happy customers should be your key metrics.
2. You can always raise money later at a great valuation using the argument "Hey, these guys raised money from X VCs and are blowing up."
3. You need to launch. Stop waiting.
4. In the big picture, everything here doesn't matter. Both us and our competitors are going up against a bunch of old-guard corporations who are the current incumbents. It doesn't matter if we have similar products if our overall market share is .001%-- the other 99% is the true competition.
There's something different happening though, and it primarily has to do with execution. We do crazy shit to get traction, because we're scrappy as hell and aren't going down without a firefight. We're extremely lean and we all code, whereas their organization is far more bloated. The numbers belie the actual fairness of the fight. And moreover, we don't currently need a massive amount of money. Our burn rate is fairly low.
Here are a few things I've learned:
1. More bodies isn't better. More money isn't always better. Traction and happy customers should be your key metrics.
2. You can always raise money later at a great valuation using the argument "Hey, these guys raised money from X VCs and are blowing up."
3. You need to launch. Stop waiting.
4. In the big picture, everything here doesn't matter. Both us and our competitors are going up against a bunch of old-guard corporations who are the current incumbents. It doesn't matter if we have similar products if our overall market share is .001%-- the other 99% is the true competition.