How many times has this happened to you? You have a great idea that you think no one else has thought of only to run across someone who is already doing it. What do you do? I met a founder who explained with passion how he was moving along on his start-up only to run into a company at a conference that was doing the exact same thing. In fact, they were a bit further along than he was. He decided to quit his own project and is now helping another founder with a non-related start-up. When he explained the new start-up, it was obvious his heart wasn’t in it.
Did he make the right choice?
Unfortunately, in his case I don’t think so. He had a real strong connection with his original start-up idea and was making good progress toward it. It’s no secret that the start-up journey is difficult, but what sustains most is the belief in what they are doing. He had that belief and a means to see it through. In fact, many great ideas can support multiple competing start-ups all of whom can secure marketshare and be successful. Ideas are great, but as any experienced angel, VC or founder will tell you, it’s really about the execution. Your mantra must be that you will implement your idea better than anyone else. It’s competitive out there and you need to be ready to take on all comers. This way when you here of a start-up that is very similar to yours, you’ll shrug it off and focus on fine tuning your implementation strategy.
After all, with 7 billion people in the world…..most likely someone is having the same thought you are having, so focus on execution and see it through.