My last business was in a market with two very well funded, very large competitors. But they were only interested in the larger deal sizes, leaving lots of smaller customers completely underserved. After burning through a couple rounds trying to go toe-to-toe, we refocused on these smaller customers with new messaging, sales approaches and product and immediately had the biggest year we had ever had to date.
One of the other things we did with product was to try to bring capabilities only the big guys had, but in a cost efficient way to the smaller customer. This gave them an opportunity to compete on a bigger stage.
We were also able to convert some small customers into bigger customers as they grew. Having a long history with them kept us onboard with them and kept the bigger players out.
In anything, when there are only big players involved, there are always gaps that can be filled. It's why, despite there being Bing and Google, there's still domain specific search engines, or despite there being Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, there's still space for companies like Hyperkin, Valve or Ouya to have a go.