Competition

So I am quickly coming to the realization that quite possibly the hardest thing about starting your own company is learning about a new competitor. It's actually a fairly complex feeling, that varies a lot depending on a number of factors.

1) How similar is the competitor to yourself
2) How obvious is it that they are doing some things better than you
3) How obvious is it that they are doing some thing more poorly than you
4) What are their apparent goals / target market

I've come to realize that the worst part about it is not knowing the answers to some of these questions. At least for me the real painful part is in the anxiety, the possibility that it is the worst case scenario. Of course it never is the worst case scenario and frequently the existence of a competitor in an industry served by start-ups is actually a good thing as it brings more validation to the market space as a whole.

I'm getting better at recognizing that, as painful as the first hit of anxiety is, it does fade away. It is almost never as bad as you think, and as soon as the dust settles, you are left in a situation which is actually not that bad. Once you can see your competition then you know what you are up against and that doesn't scare me as much. I can actually begin to believe that the existence of the competitor is not a bad thing because of the market validation effect. I can't truly believe this in my gut, though, as the existence of competition never feels that great, but I can rationalize it a bit and see the silver lining.

There is always going to be competetion, especially with a good idea, so I am just going to have to learn to deal with it. I doubt I'll ever really be able to avoid the initial panic attacks, but at least I am beginning to understand that the dust will settle and that I am not going to be ruined in the process.