allang

Hi HN,

I've been waiting to post what I've been working on for a few weeks now:)

Today we're launching LayerVault, which is a version control system made for designers. The URL is http://www.layervault.com

LayerVault keeps track of what you're working on without adding extra steps to your process. The app runs in your toolbar and tracks changes you make to your files. Basically — each time you create or modify a file you’re working on, LayerVault saves a copy. You can then login, flip through its versions, and download a version from a few weeks ago.

It's pretty neat — and we’ve built some stuff that makes impact to bandwidth pretty much negligible. We've been testing it with a small beta group for a little while now, and we're pretty excited.

A handful of beta invites are floating around but we're going to be open the private beta to more people today.

As always, feedback is welcome.

You've come up with a good idea for a service and have done your homework. You believe there's a need for the product and can't find any company serving that need, so after a few months of planning you begin development. You can only develop after work, and you work late, but you're getting things done - albeit very slowly.

During the initial development phase, a company launches a similar service and beats you to the punch. The amount of press they receive is discouraging, but you shake it off and continue. A month later another service launches, but this time nearly identical to yours. Strangely, all of this occurs in the course of one summer.

In this particular case, you've completed maybe 50% of the total work necessary. You have a real concern that the service may be perceived as another drop in the bucket, the impact of a launch has been diminished, and the innovation you expected to leverage has been lost.

Now your choice is whether to keep going and see the project through OR stop and focus on a different project.

What's your advice?