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I have seen a lot of startups with the same concept, probably at least a dozen. So you are not alone. That being said, worrying about competition is silly. In fact, if one of your competitors gets traction you should see that as validation for your product, think about what you can "copy" and what you can improve upon. Just make sure you can tell the difference between what the press writes and what is actually going on behind the scenes. The real question you should ask yourself is: How passionate are you about this product? Can you imagine spending the next 3 years working on this, giving it your full time and attention? If yes, go ahead, keep on eye on competition, but don't obsess about it. Keep hustling. There are many ways you can beat the "bigger" players. The best marketing is usually free. The saying that Microsoft was replaced by two guys in a garage doesn't come from nothing. Also, it's a big market with enough space for multiple players. If you are not incredibly passionate about this industry and product you should probably stop right now. In this space, with lots of competition, you are probably not going to get huge traction (or money) from one day to another. It's a marathon, and without the right motivation behind the product it's difficult to keep it up. And most of your competition will die for this reason, not due to the lack of marketing dollars. Edit: Also, a large part of marketing such a product goes towards changing the habits of job seekers. Initially, there will be a lot of resistance (or inertia). People are not used to your way of looking for jobs. You need to teach them. Competition will be immensely helpful with this. They educate your target audience for you. Once someone is actually willing to change their habits and try out a new way of looking for jobs (e.g. your competitor's) it's much easier for them to "just switch to the better product", which is where you come in. PS: I won a hackathon with the exact same idea once ;) But I didn't keep working on it. |