[colin8chSE]

I'm not sure why you're viewing GumRoad's funding as a negative.

I look at this as even more validation for my payments startup http://merchee.com, which has similar basic functionality to GumRoad, but focuses on subscription billing, offers affiliate marketing and checkout pages that match your website.

A bunch of really smart people, who see a lot of different products, teams, deals- They are betting that there is a market that will deliver ROI for innovation in the payments space, and they're putting their money behind Sahil, who has done a great job earning their backing. Please consider, he hasn't come out of no where, this isn't a sudden "overnight success". Even more validating is that lot of seasoned investors are doubling down on innovations in the payments space- look at stripe's 1st and 2nd round of funding for example (now with a valuation of $100 Million!).

Your competitor's ability to gain market adoption, traction and to raise funds should motivate you to raise the bar and build a great product, now that you "know" that it's a market that can reward your efforts.