A few days ago, I panicked when I saw a competitor do something we had planned. I couldn’t shake off that moment of desperation when I realized we won’t be first to market with this.
A few days have gone by and I’m fairly settled and sure about our position now, and I worry less about the competition. But sitting on this feeling for a while made me realize something.
In tennis, there is the notion of unforced errors, which are mistakes _you make_, they’re of your own doing, not necessarily because the opponent is better. One could apply this notion to companies too.
There is nothing you can do about competition. It will always be there, and some of it might be better than you.
What is under your control though, is how you play. Reduce the number of unforced errors you make. By minimizing the stupid things you do and mistakes of bad execution, one could likely go much further and win more than worrying about one-upping the competition every time.
While this doesn’t obviate the basic requirement that your product is good, it frees you up from pointless worries.
doublingdown.wordpress.com 