My competitor has raised $14 million, while I've chosen a different path.

Seeing such a substantial amount of funding at least indicates that product-market fit (PMF) has been validated. As they are in the early stages of funding, it also suggests there is considerable room for market expansion. I don't necessarily need to validate PMF; what I truly need to do is find customers and sell to them. For independent developers, achieving $5,000 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is already quite sufficient. There's no need to aim for being #1 in the market.

For example, in the CRM software space, the top player is Salesforce, followed by HubSpot and Zoho. But can you name the 100th one? It's likely a software that no one knows, yet it could perform quite well in a specific country or industry, generating decent revenue and supporting a small team. Competitors can help, to some extent, by opening up the market and educating users, and all you need to do is find a unique entry point that sets your product apart from theirs.

Now, regarding my product: it’s a tool that helps users create interactive demonstrations. The entire market space is still in a growth phase, with several companies securing funding in the range of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, indicating that the market is far from saturated and continues to expand. Upon reviewing all the available products, I noticed that they all lack the capability for "multiple users to edit simultaneously," which presents a great entry point for a newcomer. This realization is also the core reason that prompted me to build my product.

As I write this, it also addresses a misunderstanding I had long ago. Back then, I frequently came up with new ideas, only to quickly discover that someone else was already developing a similar product. I assumed I shouldn't pursue that idea, which led me to miss many opportunities. Please don’t fear having competitors; the downfall of empires is often not caused by external foes, but by problems arising from within.

Do you understand the industry you’re in? What are the competitors like? Are they bootstrapped or funded externally? Is market share concentrated or fragmented?

(PS, if you're curious about what I'm building, here's the link: productdemo.app, just for your reference.)