Im writing this letter to fellow startup owners. One day when you see one startup doing great in the industry, you stared to think… If this guy can do it, why can’t I! Then you started to build an app. A copy to be exact. You tell this to your self… “I’m going to make something better“. And you build the exact same thing perhaps with a new look. Next you go to the market hoping to get rich! But, at the end, you failed miserably. Why? I’ll tell you why… It’s because you tried to do the exact same thing.

People are good at copying. If we see someone succeed doing one thing, we try to do the same thing. Stop! Don’t do that. I agree, every industry need to have competition. I’m not saying you should not try to build the next Uber, the next Netflix or the next successful grocery store in your city. You should try. But, don’t do exactly what they did.

Now you would be thinking, what the hell is this guys saying. Let me clarify… Every idea comes as some kind of a solution to a common problem. Uber tried to connect passengers and taxi drivers using modern technology. Now you don’t have to come to the road and hail a taxi. You can book one right from your home. Google tried to give us a way to easily search the web. A better way to find what we need.

What did you try to do?

Just copy someone and try to build an app? Don’t copy the app. Copy what they did… Which is finding a solution to a problem. If you want to beat Uber, you have to find what Uber cannot solve and address those problems. If you can successfully solve a unique problem which people really need solving, you can easily succeed. (Of course you have to do proper marketing).

Even large companies fail trying to copy someone

Microsoft tried to copy iOS and Android. Microsoft tried to copy Google and build Bing and they failed (Bing might get some new hope with ChatGPT). They failed utterly. Google tried to copy Facebook and build Google Plus and they failed.

Find a problem that you can monetize on

Don’t try to solve every problem you find. Make sure there’s a market for it. See whether enough people have the same problem you are trying to solve. If the answer is yes, move on to the next point…

Before you build an app, see whether someone already have a solution

See whether the problem is already solved by someone. If the answer is yes, don’t give up… See whether they are successful or not. If not, then you have some chance. They might have misunderstood the problem. See whether you can find why.

See whether you can solve the problem without causing collateral damage

If you cause more problems by solving one, you are not going to succeed. The solution should be precise and simple. People don’t like complications. People are lazy (You’ll understand that if you read my previous article.).

If all the above boxes are ticked, then you can start to build an app. Find a good team of software engineers, plan things right and start. Not just for software. This applies to everything. If you need to change the world, don’t be the next Einstein, or next Elon Musk or next Steve Jobs. Be you. Solve problems you face in your day to day life. Someone else might already be suffering from the same issues. They might not realize it. You can solve them. You can monetize the problem. But remember one thing, don’t loose your ethics in your search for success. If you do, everything will be in vein!