It seems that the conventional logic behind the majority of startups is to develop a completely new idea with the hopes of achieving the same success as Facebook, Uber, et cetera. This would involve some amount of tapping into a formerly non-existent market with a formerly non-existent product, and it's very hit-or-miss (more likely miss).
Today, I saw this article re: the upside to launching a startup in an existing market. The idea is that with bigger players in the market, the chances of the market succeeding increase as a whole.
Bigger players offer validation to your sphere. When we started to develop our on-demand shipping company, it was virgin territory. But since Uber and Amazon have set their eyes on the space, it’s actually opened doors rather than caused us problems. We no longer have to convince investors that there’s a problem to be solved–Amazon and Uber have done it for us. It’s also helped us improve our likelihood of scoring partnerships or being acquired if and when the time is right.
Do you guys think that this logic makes sense? If you were to launch a startup, would you rather enter an existing market or create your own?
