> If you haven't heard of any one of them by the time you are done conceiving it you are in the exact same position as the other companies are This assumes tha

> If you haven't heard of any one of them by the time you are done conceiving it you are in the exact same position as the other companies are This assumes that you can do meaningful research without ever Googling the problem space, which is virtually the same as finding competitors. And if you don't research at all while conceiving it, how exactly would you hear about competitors? > don't bother mapping it until you've established your position well enough that you are actually in competition, until that time it is usually a waste of time. Trying to open, say, a grocery store without the knowledge of a Walmart down the street sounds like the definition of wasted time.