Copying the best features of competitors?
I'm in the process of defining the must-have features for an MVP.
Initially, I was thinking that I'm such a (stable) genius - no one ever before had such an amazing idea as I had. But after some market research, I found out that others came up with similar ideas and approaches. Ok - I think, that's the way it is in many niches. Maybe it even is a good thing - if others are making money out of this, then I can too.
Looking at more details of competitive products, I found out that there are still a lot of things that haven't been implemented yet. In some cases, there are similar features but with a different intention or focus. I'm pretty confident, that I can build a unique product for that niche that provides value to many users.
I might copy some of the features of my competitors, add some "unique" features or add "mixed" features - features that are based on ideas from my competitors with a little bit of improvement. I think it isn't unethical to develop products this way.
But is there some kind of systematic approach doing product development/ MVP-planning/ requirement analysis this way?
Any must-reads on this topic?
There are two strategies here. One is to make a near copy of a competitor for taking their market share as in Lift and Uber. The second is to make a different product as in Base Camp vs MS Project. Depending on the one you choose, the decision to copy features and/or make better ones will be answered.
I guess it also depends on your market. If you're in a super crowded space, it's pretty hard to just copy your competitor and try to stand out. (Unless you have shit tons of money!). In this kind of market, you have to create a real disruption.
But the Uber/Lyft is a good example. Making a better copy of a monopoly-situation product can totally work!