Charles Zhang

“My heart is a traitor,” the boy said to the alchemist, when they had paused to rest the horses. “It doesn’t want me to go on.”

“That makes sense,” the alchemist answered. “Naturally it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you’ve won.”

“Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?”

“Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. Even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you’re thinking about life and about the world.”

“Why don’t people’s hearts tell them to continue to follow their dreams?” the boy asked the alchemist.

“Because that’s what makes a heart suffer most, and hearts don’t like to suffer.”

– The Alchemist, Paul Coelho

Check out my interesting friend, Christine’s Blog

Silicon Valley can be a place of premature hype. Once a company gets funding the valley makes it seem like they won the World Series. When I tell people our idea I always hear back “isn’t so and so startup is doing something like this?”

In lieu of the X millions of dollar they got invested, the real question should be “Are your friends or coworkers really using it?” Just because they have the budget build a rocket doesn’t mean it will fly.  In fact, you should be glad to have a well funded “competitor”. It means your idea is worthy of being funded. Also, you can observe their expensive experiments which may save you a lot of time.

If the problem you are trying to solve is serious enough, other startups in the same field shouldn’t really be your competitors. There will be enough room for for each company to have a niche. As long as you can solve a real problem with sustainable execution, someone will find your company valuable.

So the next time you see a similar company get X millions on Tech Crunch, don’t panic. Embrace them and learn from their experiences. Most importantly, have a laser like focus on the problem you are trying to solve.