I agree in general, but there are definite exceptions. Most solutions are mediocre at best. That means you have a good shot if you can do a better than mediocre

I agree in general, but there are definite exceptions. Most solutions are mediocre at best. That means you have a good shot if you can do a better than mediocre job. Sometimes though there is someone who clearly understands the problem as well (or better) and whose solution is genuinely great. If a big part of your motivation is to solve an unsolved problem this is going to suck the wind out of you. So much of the world's problems are unsolved (or solved badly) that it doesn't make sense to go head-to-head on a problem that's already being solved really well. At least not for a tiny startup that needs every advantage it can get. Of course just because you don't see any good competitors doesn't mean there won't be: "Looking just at existing competitors can give you a false sense of security. You should compete against what someone else could be doing, not just what you can see people doing. A corollary is that you shouldn't relax just because you have no visible competitors yet. No matter what your idea, there's someone else out there working on the same thing." -- http://www.paulgraham.com/startuplessons.html http://www.paulgraham.com/startuplessons.html