Ask HN: What to do when you discover a YC-backed competitor?

Was initially planning to take part in YC as a route to internationlize this project. Am from tiny Singapore, and hence the need to get out of our country for this to scale.

Worth a short applying for the round 2013 still?

A few points to remember:

* Lots of YC companies fail.

* Even more pivot from the idea they're working on now.

* Competitors are not always a bad thing. They help validate your idea and push you to iterate faster.

* Better-funded competitors will always be there, whether it's a YC company, a TS company, a Sequoia-backed company, or Google.

* There is usually room for more than one company in a space.

Just carry on.

If it's something you're passionate about and that people really want and are willing to pay for, press ahead. Who knows, maybe you can execute better, or maybe the competition will pivot to something else. Even if they don't, there is always room for competition in any industry, and sometimes that is what spurs innovation.

Absolutely!

Don't even hesitate for a moment. Measure and respect your competitor, copy his strong points, study his weaknesses!

But in any condition do not loose your pace or enthusiasm. After all, being a YC backed company does not equal world domination.

The game is on!

Keep swinging!

one of the best examples, reddit Vs Digg. I'm not saying either of them are better than the other. But they both were started at the same time period and they both became successful.

If they're dominating, and you're just getting started, maybe you should do something else.

If you're both early then it's mostly irrelevant that they exist.

thanks everyone! your insights helped a lot, and i'll be continuing the project :)

Compete.

There are many examples of YC backed companies getting whooped by their competitors. In fact there are only a couple categories where a YC company is the leader.