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And why is it good to know about trends and competitors?

I for one successfully raised startups, being very very focussed and not caring about competitors at all. Until know, people often ask me how my products compare to the main competitors and all I can say is: I dont know. I never looked at the other products.

[python_kiss]

"Know your enemy and know yourself, find naught in fear for 100 battles. Know yourself but not your enemy, find level of loss and victory. Know thy enemy but not yourself, wallow in defeat every time." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

I keep a very close eye on my competitors. I follow their rss feeds, coverage on blogs, and features that make them better than us. I am surprised this is even up for a debate.