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Swapratim Roy

Do you prefer innovation or crowded market for launching startup?

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Lots of startup founders believe that it should be novel and innovative when it comes to launch a startup. But startup is not about innovation. It is not a research program, it's business - prove me wrong. The sole purpose of startup is to solve a certain problem and make money from it. Personal computer was there before Mac or search engine was there before Google. But it did not stopped them to get massive success afterwards. Sometimes it is better to launch a product in already crowded market beecause then target audience has already an in-depth knowledge of the problem and probable solution. Then it's easy to get a subset of them for your business to become profitable. What do you think?

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Carl Brook
This is a tough one isn't it....great question! Thing is when there is already something in the market, chances are it's already proven which gives you a better chance.... Innovation, getting this right and you're set-up for life AND some. Great to see everyone speaking about this.
Swapratim Roy
@carl_brook Love this perspective. It's also true that bigger chance of success comes with higher risks. Innovation vs proven stratgy - a conflict of choice :-)
Vlad Zivkovic
Innovation is the hardest thing to do, entering existing market with competitors is much easier.
Vlad Zivkovic
@swapratim_roy Yeah ofc, I prefer existing markets with multiple unicorns in the industry which proves the market potential.
Swapratim Roy
@vladimir_zivkovic I totally appreciate the notion. That's much better than no fish in the sea. Otherwise it'd be beating the bush for even a small cohort of customers.
Dexter Awoyemi
If there are no alternatives, there's probably not a market.
Dexter Awoyemi
@swapratim_roy yeah, would-be startups especially. The criteria for market opportunity isn't that there are no existing solutions, but rather there's some problem being insufficiently served for a large enough market that can be served profitably
Nuno Reis
It's about existing a market. If there is no room for 2 companies then there is no room for 1 company, as simple as that. In that sense, innovate as much as possible, but do it to solve a market need.
Satyanarayan Prashar
I believe in crowded market, one must have a product which is 10X better than the competitors. If one is able to do this with good marketing, a portion of the market can be secured and even can be dominated over time. Innovation alone doesn't leads to a market fit, world is filled with examples of startups with super innovative ideas but never attending the success might be because being ahead of time, bad reach or no pain point relief.
Swapratim Roy
@satyanarayan_prashar I agree 100% with the notion. It's hard sometimes to create a product 10x better than competitors. Imagine your competitors being Microsoft product or some unicorns - it's impossible to compete and make 10x better product on the day one. But something better can separate your product from the rest.