In this six-part series, Report on Small Business talks with Canadian startup founders and leaders to learn how they think about their businesses.
Kirk Simpson, CEO and co-founder of accounting and invoicing software Wave
When Wave was first starting out, I obsessed over every change in the market. But now I know that winning is based on our own ability to do great work, rather than predicting someone else’s next move. If you are in a large market and have a good value proposition for the customer, your own execution internally is far more important than anything else.
Mallorie Brodie, co-founder of Bridgit, a platform for organizing construction projects
We always keep an eye out for what is happening in the industry, but it is very important to not base the company’s strategy on what competitors are doing. In the technology industry things move very quickly, and being a follower is a sure way to lose out on the bigger, more innovative opportunities.
Mikael Cho, founder of creative talent site Crew
We know about our competitors but we don’t follow them too closely. We’ve got our own path based on problems we’ve all experienced personally. We assume our competitors are strong but if we pay too much attention to them, we could get trapped into following something they do rather than our own course. We’ve tested competitors products before, but we don’t actively talk with our competitors to get insight into why they do what they do.
Jeff Booth, president and CEO of BuildDirect, an online seller of home renovation materials
Look forward, look forward, look forward! Pay attention to what the world needs, not what it has right now, and you’ll have an edge. But never underestimate your competitors, especially the big guys. They have very smart people all trying to solve a problem in a different way and you can probably learn a thing or two.
Michael Litt, co-founder and CEO of video and marketing platform Vidyard
Video Marketing is a newly defined category, which means there are a lot of companies taking different approaches or solving very specific problems . We watch what others are doing, but are always careful not to stray from our path and core value to our customers . Every time we make a product decision, we ask ourselves if what we’re building aligns with our core value: Helping our customers generate more revenue through the strategic use of online video. If it isn’t the best way to deliver real results, we iterate further on the idea or scrap it. Most competitive attempts to date have been ill-fated functionality clones.
Denzil D’Sa, founding partner of cross-platform messaging platform PPLCONNECT
We keep tabs on competitors from a high level, but try not to get caught up in what they’re doing. The truth is this can become a distraction, as they are most likely not driven by the same values or mission. We spend a lot more time asking ourselves if a new feature will satisfy our target users than theirs.
The Think like a Startup series runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays in October on Report on Small Business.