i've seen a few start-up founders panic at the sight of a well-funded competitor launching into their space. but the counter-intuitive thing is - more competition is good for you! here's why 1) competition validates the market - many other (presumably) smart hard working people recognize there's an opportunity, so you're likely onto something. in fact, the presence of 0 competitors can often be a yellow flag - you might be too early, the market might structurally suck but you just don't know it yet, etc 2) nothing galvanizes a team like a shared public enemy. it's no longer a solitary marathon, it's now a team sprint. framed well ("we deserve to win" etc), i've seen competition sharpen focus, cut the fat off roadmaps, and dramatically accelerate shipping velocity 3) your competition likely has no idea what they're doing. maybe they had a viral video launch, but half their "product demo" could have been a smoke-screen or maybe they just lost their star engineer etc - you just don't know! even the start-ups that present the best to the outside, can often be a complete circus on the inside ultimately the best thing you can do as an early-stage founder in a competitive market is to just ship ship ship. stay focused, listen to your customers, and ship great product. don't get too bogged down about the competition - they're likely going to screw up =)