Ask HN: What do you do if someone is already building what you wanted to build?

Build it anyway.

I've been working on an app that I believe will be beneficial to millions of people. And I've seen a few built and deployed that are SOOOOO close -- and even an announcement by a VERY big player that is also close.

But frankly, I believe they've all misfired.

And that it's my app that will literally change the world.

So I keep plugging away.

Alone.

We'll see if anybody actually uses it though. It's always a crapshoot.

I already dropped the ball once when I had essentially the same idea as Lyft or Uber -- but decided not to pursue it when I read Apple's rules against transportation-related apps.

I'd be willing to bet that hundreds of us had that idea. It was that obvious.

But Uber and Lyft actually built and deployed something.

And apparently those rules were rules that could be broken.

Oh well, live and learn.

According to the book "12 laws of marketing", that is a good thing. Mean exist a market, and somebody is already targeting them.

Is like food stores cluster in a location, is easier if exist a way for the customers to see "look, here is where food can be buy!"...

---- Also:

Not only somebody else is building it, many must already do it... is very unlikely somebody truly open a "new market".

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The same book say you must be the #1 in a market. Failing that (like the 99% case) you must create a niche that make you the #1.

For example:

You can't be the #1 beer seller

But,

You can be the #1 beer with fruit flavors seller.

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I before stop to do like a dozen of projects, scared by MS, Google, and others when them announce some stuff (that sometimes, only vaguely :( ) were similar to my ideas.

Now? I regret all that! None of the stuff they do was even closer to the style I was looking for...

Now, I lost my opportunity to do fun/side projects (now, need to bring money to the table). I'm trying to build 2 side projects, and despite are "common" and I move slooowwwww (responsibilities!) I don't worry anymore: Is more likely I will fail because myself, and even if I build a "copy-cat" is clear that I will bring something else to the table, just because I'm not the others...

So, don't stop ever because what are others doing.

Either build it anyway, or join them, or sit back and wait until you can use their thing. It depends on what your reasons for wanting to build it are.

> …better than you think you can build it?

If it's open-source, see where you can contribute, for example, documenting the code or adding a feature you think they're missing.

If it's not open-source, see if they're hiring. In your cover letter mention that you had a similar idea, but it differed in x, y, and z ways, and include the pros and cons of your your different features and implementation methods.

Very few people go the distance with their projects. If you think you'll be someone that does, then go for it. We've had the biggest companies to startups enter our space, and many already in it before we started. The difference, I think, is that few have the courage or focus to push hard on it day after day for years at a time.

Nobody cares about calling dibs. People will move to the product that provides the best value; a subjective assessment that is constantly being re-evaluated as conditions are ever-changing. Also, execution never looks the same even if the ideas are identical.

If you think you can build something of value for people and you care about the problem then do it or join others already doing it. If a competitor makes a mistake, learn, and if they succeed, adapt. Everything else is a distraction from solving actual problems.

Build it. Not anyway, just build it. Two houses on the same of the street, built by different neighbours, may be or less similar. The street gets better by 2+ neighbours focusing on making the street better.

Check this 'It can turn out ok' comment[0] from this post[1]:

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9663904 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9663203

It's your call man. As another poster mentioned, it really is all in the execution. If you don't believe you can compete and out-execute on some worthwhile dimension, then give up.

Otherwise quit second guessing yourself and get back to work.

Someone will always be either building what you'd like to, or chasing after you with a competitive product trying to eat your lunch.

Any market worth being in, will have plenty of competition early on.

Primarily you have to ask yourself if you can add value to the segment you're talking about. If you have something worth-while to offer customers / users. Such questions remain regardless of the competition or lack thereof. If you've got something valuable to offer, build it. There is always an angle to take against a seemingly superior competitor, whether that's on price, features, support, customization, ease of use, et al.

It depends. If I'm building it for my education/fun I'll carry on. If I'm building to use or for others to use, I'll move on to something else. I have way more project ideas that time to work on them, so I don't want to waste my time.

As the T-Shirt says: http://www.headlineshirts.net/its-all-in-the-execution-t-shi...

It's all about the execution. If two people have a great idea the winner will be the one who executed better.

i.e. They scaled better, they used appropriate tools, they had a functioning team, they moved first, they listened to customers, they pivoted and stayed agile, they remained focussed on their goal etc. etc.

On the other hand, some products have network effect, which can make them hard to assail once they've got momentum.

Also don't forget the 10x 'rule' - you need to be 10x better than an existing product if you're doing the same as an established product.

As others have mentioned you may also be attacking different market segments e.g. business/consumer, geographical region, age group, etc.

Come to think of it, aren't there one or two books on the subject ;-)

Be relieved that you have one less project to accomplish in your lifetime and move on to the next thing you'd like to do.

How many things are brand new and innovative? Most aren't, most are iterations, or just a more successful effort at something that has been done before.

If you want to build it, build it anyway. Build it for passion, for the experience, for interest, or for any other reason. Or don't, that is ok too.

Keep on building it and make it happen.

We wrote two blog posts that you might find useful if you're in this kind of situation:

1. Why you should share your “secret” startup idea with anyone who will listen:

http://www.kilometer.io/blog/why-you-should-share-your-secre...

2. Don’t build anything until you have a clear startup mission

http://www.kilometer.io/blog/dont-build-anything-until-you-h...

Why are you building this project?

If it is to learn something, the answer is obvious: build it anyway. You will still learn pretty much all of the things you otherwise would have.

If it is because you feel that the world needs this thing to exist, and it'll become a better place because it does: see if you can contribute to the other people's work. If not, see if what they're doing meets that need and be happy that other people shared your vision of a problem to be solved.

If it's because you wanted to make a company and earn a living: keep going. There are thousands of niches in businesses. You can find yours.

Keep building it, but don't release until the other people do. This will do a few things.

First, it will vet out the market of the product. We are told to look for something new and innovative, but truth be told, the best way to predict the success of a product is to analyze the performance of similar product.

Second, it will give you some insights on areas within your own product to improve as well as ideas on how to differentiate.

Have they deployed yet? Otherwise, build to ship first. Be first and expand based on your users/buyers input. Motivate yourself to deploy asap.

Wait for a new idea. Each of us has very specific talents that others don't. If you can find yours, you can be the one building it better. It's all about maximizing efficiency. Ideas come and go. You don't have to jump on the first one to succeed. Just on the one that makes the most sense.

How passionate are you about it? What do you want out of doing this? Why were you doing this? Do those reasons still apply?

Execution is everything is a meme in part because execution reveals hidden assumptions we did not know we had. Two people who nominally set out to do the same thing, are probably not actually doing the SAME thing. Just like there are millions of different cars that can all be called "cars" and yet have many differences, projects can nominally be the same thing and yet not really.

There are more variables in the success of a product than just whether "something is built better".

- Product personality (aka voice)

- Initial Target Market's propensity to be enthusiastic about your product

- And much more.

Don't give up. It is the power of competition. First of all if someone is building the same it gives you some validation that your idea might be worth it. Second of all, there will always be a lot of people that look like they are working on the same thing, but the might not.

Do your analysis of the market, and iterate based on customer feedback. Your idea might seem similar, but it might be completely different. The race is not to build your idea, the race is to find out if the idea is worth it or not.

Just build it. I learned the hard way that worrying about other people is useless, just execute. If you focus on executing and they worry about you, you will win. So make their goal to focus on you and yours to focus on clients. In the end clients will choose.

Rarely is the market so small only a few can survive, and if it is that small, you are thinking too small. Markets worth going after can support multiple companies.

What if Zuckerberg gave up because someone already made Myspace? Or what if Bill Gates decided not to build Windows because Apple already built the Mac?

Someone has always built what you're building. The only real question is do you know who they are. It's actually a great exercise to find the last founder (or two) who tried to execute your idea and figure out why they failed. Very often it's timing so it will make a lot of sense to try again if you think the world has changed in a way that will make your idea succeed this time.

Think of the mini-van. Chrysler is credited with introducing the revolutionary vehicle style. Now every car manufacturer has at least one, sometimes a couple mini-vans in their lineup and they all make a bunch of money of them. What if all those manufactures had said, "Naw, they already made it, we're not going to."

So my response is, "So what". Build it anyway.

Build essentially the same thing with a different scope.

Figure out how to make the same thing more general purpose, more specific purpose, or different specific purpose.

Just make sure your version is different enough to avoid the trap of people using the other version because it's "good enough".

Or find a way to collaborate with them.

I don't think there are a lot of ideas that are so original that no one else came up with them. Chances are someone is already working on your idea regardless of what your idea is. You have the benefit of knowing who that competitor is. Shouldn't stop you, but encourage you.

Build it anyway, gain experience.

You know how there's only one personal computer platform because the other guys all gave up? Oh right, there's a bunch! Because different things can fill different niches, your take on the problem might fill some slightly different, but large demographic.

If another app solves all the issues I set out to solve in my own app, and is in a language I am comfortable with, then I would try it out and see if I could contribute somehow.

Then again I only program as a hobby and everything I make is open so I have no financial motive to compete.

At the end of the day you are giving another choice to people. Good or bad, it's up to you.

The woods would be quiet if no bird sang but the one that sang best.

You should stop, and research the competitor product. Try use it for few days. After that, you will use the most suitable product for yourself, either competitor or yours.

You can try to build better than they are doing and see if you are able to do it otherwise try to find out if there's a way to help them building it.

Build it anyway. You'll become many times the person you were before you started building it.

Copy him and do better. He probably copied someone else, too. Who performs better, wins.

what if you don't know someone else is building it? Does it matter if its already out there? And if so aren't there intellectual property laws out there so people can't steal or use some one else's idea?

Build it better / different / more focused.

Contribute.

Help.