Competition & differentiation

Around 80 episodes touch on competition, and the dominant view is that competitors are a good sign: they prove people pay, almost nothing is unique anyway, and ‘no competitors means no market’ (Thomas Sanlis, Dmytro Krasun, Guillaume Moubeche, Cedric Roberge). The real question is your twist. The commonest answers are: radical simplicity and friction removal against bloated or ‘dinosaur’ incumbents; serving the small customers or niche that big players ignore; reliability, responsiveness and service; brand, fun and personality in crowded consumer categories (a cat-themed Pomodoro timer, a gamified habit tracker); and speed, which incumbents lack. Guests find the twist by reading competitors’ 1–2 star reviews, using their products daily, or asking customers why they chose you over a free alternative. There are three live splits. On price, Will Cannon and Abhishek say lower price alone isn’t a twist, while Joe Rozek and Jack Friks won partly on price. On product versus distribution, Tomer and Roman say their product isn’t different at all and marketing is the edge, while George Lampropolis and Lane Wagner insist a product must feel new. And a minority (Colin McIntosh, Sarah Pearl) say not to build what has been done. Guests also warn that copycats arrive within weeks of any visible success.

Key points

• Competitors are a good sign — they prove people pay; creating a new market is nearly impossible — 11 episodes. (Dmytro Krasun · Dmytro Krasun (Nov 2024) ▶ 02:49) (Guillaume Moubeche · Guillaume Moubeche (Dec 2024) ▶ 09:07) (Thomas Sanlis · Thomas Sanlis (Aug 2025) ▶ 08:04) +8 more
• Beat bloated or slow incumbents on simplicity, UX and speed — 11 episodes. (Denis Yurchak · Denis Yurchak (Oct 2025) ▶ 09:11) (Matt Robinson · Matt Robinson (Jul 2026) ▶ 03:06) (Miquel Palet · Miquel Palet (Mar 2026) ▶ 03:14) +8 more
• Find the gap in what the leader’s users dislike (reviews, forums, daily use, customer interviews) — 9 episodes. (Abhishek · Abhishek (Aug 2025) ▶ 02:24) (Andre Haykal Jr. · Andre Haykal Jr. (Jul 2024) ▶ 12:22) (Will Cannon · Will Cannon (Oct 2025) ▶ 04:35) +6 more
• In crowded consumer categories, differentiate on brand, theme, personality and fun — 7 episodes. (Ryan · Ryan (Jul 2026) ▶ 08:30) (Locked’s founder · Locked’s founder (Apr 2026) ▶ 03:27) (Lane Wagner · Lane Wagner (Apr 2025) ▶ 02:55) +4 more
• Expect copycats fast; build defensibility (integrations, features beyond a wrapper, an edge AI can’t copy) — 7 episodes. (David Bressler · David Bressler (Feb 2024) ▶ 12:19) (Benji · Benji (May 2026) ▶ 06:09) (Cedric Roberge · Cedric Roberge (May 2026) ▶ 08:00) +4 more
• Serve segments incumbents ignore (smaller customers, agencies, another country) — 6 episodes. (Thomas Mahony · Thomas Mahony (Mar 2026) ▶ 06:23) (Joe Rozek · Joe Rozek (Sep 2025) ▶ 07:30) (Zac · Zac (Jun 2026) ▶ 05:15) +3 more
• Win on reliability, quality, service and trust — 5 episodes. (Adrian Horning · Adrian Horning (Oct 2025) ▶ 09:44) (Dawson Botsford · Dawson Botsford (Apr 2024) ▶ 09:11) (Karthik Shanadi · Karthik Shanadi (Apr 2023) ▶ 12:32) +2 more
• If you can’t find a differentiating angle, move on — 3 episodes. (Leandro · Leandro (Jun 2025) ▶ 06:19) (Steph France · Steph France (Jun 2025) ▶ 15:16) (Bo · Bo (May 2026) ▶ 10:24)

Where guests agree

• An existing, paying competitor validates demand; success depends on a clear twist rather than on being first or unique (Guillaume Moubeche · Guillaume Moubeche (Dec 2024) ▶ 09:07) (Dmytro Krasun · Dmytro Krasun (Nov 2024) ▶ 03:18) (Abhishek · Abhishek (Aug 2025) ▶ 02:24) +3 more

Where guests disagree

Can a lower price be your differentiator? ⚠️

• No — your twist can’t just be lower pricing; price counts only if the incumbent’s is too high (Will Cannon · Will Cannon (Oct 2025) ▶ 04:21) (Abhishek · Abhishek (Aug 2025) ▶ 01:42)
• It can be part of it — compete with giants on price, simplicity and service; a fairer price won a crowded category (Joe Rozek · Joe Rozek (Sep 2025) ▶ 06:36) (Jack Friks · Jack Friks (Mar 2025) ▶ 14:27) (Jure Sotosek · Jure Sotosek (Apr 2025) ▶ 13:04)

Must the product itself be different, or is distribution enough? ⚠️

• Distribution and brand are the edge; the product can be nearly identical (Tomer · Tomer (Aug 2026) ▶ 06:05) (Roman · Roman (Sep 2026) ▶ 05:10) (presenter · Flo (Apr 2026) ▶ 19:53)
• The product must feel novel or different, or creatives won’t convert and copies fail (George Lampropolis · George Lampropolis (Dec 2025) ▶ 07:24) (Lane Wagner · Lane Wagner (Apr 2025) ▶ 02:55) (Paulius Masalskas · Paulius Masalskas (May 2025) ▶ 10:44)

Should you enter a space that has already been done? ⚠️

• Yes — competition is proof of demand (Dmytro Krasun · Dmytro Krasun (Nov 2024) ▶ 02:49) (Thomas Sanlis · Thomas Sanlis (Aug 2025) ▶ 08:04) (Michael · Michael (Jul 2026) ▶ 06:40)
• No — if it’s been done before, don’t do it; invent something new (Colin McIntosh · Colin McIntosh (May 2024) ▶ 09:47) (Sarah Pearl · Sarah Pearl (Jul 2026) ▶ 14:02)

Frameworks

• Denis’s five-step app playbook — His answer to how he’d build a successful app if starting over. (Denis Yurchak · Denis Yurchak (Oct 2025) ▶ 09:24)
  • 1. Find a market where competitors are dinosaurs
  • 2. Build the MVP fast and post everywhere (X, Reddit, LinkedIn) with a compelling story
  • 3. When a big competitor leaves, get mentioned in articles that still rank for it
  • 4. Keep iterating: message every paying customer for feedback
  • 5. Create a B2B/enterprise plan as soon as possible
• Three ways to compete with billion-dollar companies — Price, simplicity, customer service. (Joe Rozek · Joe Rozek (Sep 2025) ▶ 06:20)
  • Price: flat $100/month, no cover fees
  • Simplicity: waitlist and reservations only, usable by other industries
  • Customer service: support calls answered immediately
• Proven market plus a differentiated twist — Abhishek’s four-step method for micro-SaaS ideas. (Abhishek · Abhishek (Aug 2025) ▶ 02:07)
  • Search Twitter/Reddit for ‘X alternative’ for a popular tool
  • Find unsolved pain points (pricing only if too high)
  • Reach out to those users with a basic landing page; messaging is key
  • Bonus: one-click migration from the competitor
• Proven market plus a differentiated twist — Assume the idea exists; look for space to beat competitors on product or on marketing. (Jure Sotosek · Jure Sotosek (Apr 2025) ▶ 06:10)
  • Evaluate the competition
  • Can you make a better product?
  • Can you market better than them?
• Proven market plus a differentiated twist — How he checks a new idea before continuing to build. (Leandro · Leandro (Jun 2025) ▶ 05:56)
  • Look for existing similar solutions and their segment (enterprise, SMB, individuals)
  • Check existing pricing for potential
  • Find a differentiating angle or drop the idea
  • Get the first five users to try it while building
• Proven market plus a differentiated twist — Take an existing, distinct idea and put a differentiated spin on it along one of three axes. (presenter · Blake Anderson & Zach Yadegari (Aug 2026) ▶ 13:02)
  • different features
  • a different approach
  • different distribution
• Proven market plus a differentiated twist — Will’s four-step method for building businesses in markets that already work. (Will Cannon · Will Cannon (Oct 2025) ▶ 04:18)
  • 1. Find a market with product-market fit
  • 2. Find a unique twist from what people dislike about the leaders (read 1-2 star reviews); not just price
  • 3. Acquire customers profitably with a skill: cold email, cold calling, SEO or ads
  • 4. Execute and keep going through failure
• Proven market plus a differentiated twist — Find a big, growing market, build a smaller version, and differentiate on what users of the giants complain about. (presenter · David (May 2026) ▶ 07:25)
  • Pick a massive or fast-growing space (e.g. AI app builders)
  • Aim for 1% of the market
  • Mine competitors’ reviews, roadmaps, Discords and your support chat for complaints
  • Differentiate on one clear gap (e.g. mobile apps, no jargon)

Tactics

• Offer one-click migration from the competitor — Paste a Typeform URL and YouForm generates the form in seconds. (Abhishek · Abhishek (Aug 2025) ▶ 03:52)
• Search ‘ alternative’ on Twitter and Reddit — Find users of a popular tool asking for alternatives and read their complaints. (Abhishek · Abhishek (Aug 2025) ▶ 03:18)
• Mine competitors’ one- and two-star reviews for your twist — See what people dislike about the biggest players; those dissatisfied customers are easiest to acquire. (Will Cannon · Will Cannon (Oct 2025) ▶ 04:35)
• Interview unsatisfied customers of competitors — Talk to 10-12 customers who have tried other agencies; ask why they were unsatisfied and redesign the service. (Karl Hughes · Karl Hughes (Oct 2023) ▶ 13:36)
• Integrate multiple platforms as a moat — Connect to competing platforms (Postscript, Attentive, Omnisend) so the incumbent is unlikely to replicate the cross-platform view. (Zac · Zac (Jun 2026) ▶ 07:53)
• Target the smaller customers big competitors ignore — Competitors focused on customers with millions of devices; Pckgr targeted smaller businesses. (Thomas Mahony · Thomas Mahony (Mar 2026) ▶ 06:23)
• Differentiate with a distinctive illustration style — Collaborate with an illustrator (his girlfriend Stephanie) or use AI to develop a distinctive visual style. (Ryan · Ryan (Jul 2026) ▶ 10:55)
• Set and enforce service-level targets as brand differentiation — Respond to customers in under four hours and ship within the guaranteed two to three business days, pushing vendors to meet SLAs. (Karthik Shanadi · Karthik Shanadi (Apr 2023) ▶ 12:32)
• Ask early customers why they use you instead of the free alternative — In the early days they asked customers why they used Letterly rather than ChatGPT; the answer (easier to start recording, one-click widget) confirmed the UX focus. (Anton · Anton (Nov 2025) ▶ 05:58)
• Answer competitor questions on Reddit — Scan subreddits where customers hang out for people asking about competitors and answer honestly and authentically. (Mike · Mike (Nov 2025) ▶ 09:22)
• Price from costs, then competitors, then competitors’ customers — Work out costs, look at competitor prices and ask their customers what they like and dislike; list kit prices per credit. (Andre Haykal Jr. · Andre Haykal Jr. (Jul 2024) ▶ 07:52)
• Remove friction competitors impose — Unlike bloated resume builders that require sign-up first, one button shows the resume immediately. (Fernando Pessagno · Fernando Pessagno (Dec 2024) ▶ 03:57)

Stories & examples

• Improving on Fitbot: A friend showed him Fitbot; using it, he found its workouts weird and sometimes dangerous, prompting Gravl. Lesson: Using a leader critically can reveal a gap to build on. (Julian Gargicevich · Julian Gargicevich (Nov 2025) ▶ 03:34)
• From chatbot builder to YouForm: His no-code chatbot builder (about 200 users) was mostly used as a conversational form by people leaving Typeform after a price rise; he researched further gaps, sold the chatbot builder and built YouForm. Lesson: Your current users’ workarounds can point to a bigger market gap. (Abhishek · Abhishek (Aug 2025) ▶ 01:22)
• Studying the three biggest competitors: He studied the three biggest LinkedIn tools (caption ‘Tableau’, ‘content in’, ‘authored up’); the largest had many features but weak content creation, and their revenue showed strong demand. Lesson: If even imperfect products earn revenue, the demand is there to serve better. (Deven Bhooshan · Deven Bhooshan (Sep 2025) ▶ 03:36)
• Spotting the gap for Late: While building SaaS products, Miquel found existing social media automation APIs too expensive, too complicated or poorly documented, and built a developer-friendly API-first platform. Lesson: Gaps in developer tooling often come down to price, simplicity and documentation. (Miquel Palet · Miquel Palet (Mar 2026) ▶ 03:14)
• Timer features are hard to innovate on, so they combined a cat theme with customisation mechanics, designing features by asking how to replicate having a real cat: gifts (inspired by cats bringing dead mice), trash on failed sessions, cat backstories, a meow when tapped. Stephanie’s distinctive illustrations give it personality competitors lack. (Ryan · Ryan (Jul 2026) ▶ 08:39)
• On price ($100/month flat versus Yelp and OpenTable’s hundreds plus cover fees), simplicity (which let retail chains use it during COVID, 700+ locations, 10x-ing that year), and customer service (support calls answered immediately). (Joe Rozek · Joe Rozek (Sep 2025) ▶ 06:22)
• Calorie trackers still making money: Calorie trackers still make 30k a month despite Cal AI existing. Lesson: Crowded categories still leave room. (Michael · Michael (Jul 2026) ▶ 06:50)
• Copycats abandon their clones: People copied Postiz and self-hosted it as a competing product; it stressed him, but a week or two later they had abandoned the projects. Lesson: The original creator of an open-source project keeps the brand; copiers stay a step behind. (Nevo · Nevo (Jan 2026) ▶ 09:32)
• Within weeks about ten near-identical Excel formula generator sites copied his product, name and front end, a race to the bottom at $3. Microsoft sent a cease-and-desist and offered to build an add-on, then announced its OpenAI partnership. Free ChatGPT causes part of his churn, so he moved from convenience and customisation to features ChatGPT and Microsoft can’t replicate. (David Bressler · David Bressler (Feb 2024) ▶ 11:49)
• Product-wise it is similar—language and small changes for how Israelis eat and talk about food—but the real differentiation is brand and distribution: acquiring users for half the competition’s cost lets you outspend them. (Tomer · Tomer (Aug 2026) ▶ 05:42)
• Wrestle AI vs Green: Around the Wrestle AI launch he launched another app, Green, with a million-follower influencer. Both got close to 2 million impressions, but Green was not novel and got about 100 downloads from 1.8 million impressions while Wrestle AI converted. Lesson: Impressions don’t convert without a novel, eye-catching (‘purple cow’) idea. (George Lampropolis · George Lampropolis (Dec 2025) ▶ 07:10)

Numbers

• Age of incumbent competitors: 20-30 years (self-reported, approx.) (Denis Yurchak · Denis Yurchak (Oct 2025) ▶ 09:07)
• How long incumbents have been in the pop-up market: 15-20 years (self-reported, approx.) (Shaan Arora · Shaan Arora (Aug 2025) ▶ 10:42)
• Copycat formula generator sites within weeks: 10 sites (self-reported, approx.) (David Bressler · David Bressler (Feb 2024) ▶ 11:49)
• Copycat apps after his GPT app: 20 apps (self-reported, approx.) (Benji · Benji (May 2026) ▶ 06:09)
• Time to working product / feature parity / new features: month 3 / month 4 / months 5-6 months (self-reported) (David · David (May 2026) ▶ 05:14)

Caveats & warnings

• Host: the strategy is simple but not necessarily easy. (presenter · Abhishek (Aug 2025) ▶ 09:54)
• He initially doubted he could compete with bigger VC-backed companies; it took a year or two to find he could. (Erikas Malisauskas · Erikas Malisauskas (Apr 2025) ▶ 03:04)
• Being an open-source alternative is not a surefire success; you must reach feature parity and out-ship incumbents. (Marc · Marc & Iuliia (Aug 2025) ▶ 12:26)
• The product itself is not very different from other AI calorie trackers. (Tomer · Tomer (Aug 2026) ▶ 05:44)
• She admits finding a unique idea is not as easy now as it was 10 years ago. (Katie Keith · Katie Keith (Feb 2026) ▶ 06:05)
• Market size alone misleads; ask how many capable founders choose to build there. (Bo · Bo (May 2026) ▶ 10:18)
• Pat notes AI books have a low barrier to entry, so anyone can compete. (presenter · Joe Popelas (Aug 2023) ▶ 08:21)
• Zero existing apps can still work, though a few competitors is the better sign. (Cedric Roberge · Cedric Roberge (May 2026) ▶ 08:57)

How much to trust this

• Evidence: 79 episodes, 78 independent speakers (repeat guests counted once; Pat and Gus counted as one voice).