--- title: Why I Wish My Competitors Well And You Should Too description: Do you care about the problem your startup is solving? If so, then you should wish your competitors well. image: https://www.onstartups.com/hs-fs/file-13148333-jpg/images/competition.jpg --- # Why I Wish My Competitors Well And You Should Too Written By: [Dharmesh Shah](https://www.onstartups.com/author/dharmesh-shah) February 22, 2010 - [strategy](https://www.onstartups.com/topic/strategy) Why I Wish My Competitors Well And You Should Too Written by [Dharmesh Shah](https://www.onstartups.com/author/dharmesh-shah) on February 22, 2010 - - - - I’m going to start with a story — which includes a confession.   When I started my first company, I didn’t start with a grand mission.  The idea behind the business wasn’t transformational.  It wasn’t going to change the world.  Historians weren’t going to write about it after I was dead.  And all of that was OK.  Even though there was no *grand* mission — I was solving a problem and meeting a market need that I *cared* about.  Wait, let me clarify that a bit.  I *cared* in the sense that if I *didn’t* solve it, I was restless.  I couldn’t let it go.  I wasn’t *satisfied *with the way the problems in that industry were being solved and the solutions that other companies were offering.  That’s what *drove* me for 10+ years with that startup. ![onstartups competition](https://www.onstartups.com/hs-fs/file-13148333-jpg/images/competition.jpg) It wasn’t until much later (well after I had sold that first company), that I gave the topic some additional thought.  How do you know whether or not you care about the problem you’re working on?  Here’s my litmus test: 1.  Define the problem you’re solving in reasonably broad terms. 2.  Answer yes/no:  If the problem was somehow magically “solved” (to your satisfaction), but *you* weren’t the one that solved it, would you be fine with it? Let me clarify by shifting back to my story:  In the niche market I was working in, the problem I was working on was relatively small.  But, if one day, I woke up and learned that somehow the problem was magically solved — even if it was by a competitor, I would have been fine.  A little miffed that they had beaten me, but still OK.  As long as they *really* solved it.  I could have stopped toiling away the sleepless nights working on *that* particular problem and I would have found *other* problems to work on.  The concept here is:  You care enough about a problem that you don’t necessarily mind if someone else solves it.  *What really frustrates us entrepreneurs is when competitors win, but they don’t actually solve the problem.* One way to explain this concept better is to look at an extreme example.  Lets say the problem you were working on was curing cancer.  Of course, you’d be passionate about finding a cure.  You’d be working hard.  It’s an important problem, and it’s not surprising that you *care*.  Now, imagine if you woke up one day to learn that someone else had created a cure.  You’d be *glad* that the problem was solved — even though it wasn’t you that solved it.  Sure, it would have been great to get the fame and glory, but that surely wouldn’t cause you to wish the other scientists/researchers/doctors ill.  Nope.  You’d wish them well.  Why?  Because fundamentally, you care about having the problem solved. Now, with my current startup, [HubSpot](https://www.hubspot.com/), I’m still passionate.  But the problem happens to be much, much bigger.  This time it’s transformational.  This time it’s a mission.  I’m working furiously on this startup too.  I co-authored a book, “[Inbound Marketing](http://bit.ly/osinbound)” on the topic.  I’m doing a fair amount of public speaking (despite the stress it causes me).  I believe we’re on the path of truth and justice (we’re helping small businesses grow *and* reducing junk mail, spam, and marketing calls that interrupt you at dinner).  We’re hoping to be the ones that end up transforming the marketing industry.  But, if someone else ends up doing it, and winds up delivering on our mission, well, then, more power to them.  I care enough about the problem that I don’t mind if someone else solves it.  **That’s why I truly wish my competitors well.  ** But, just because I wish them well doesn’t mean I’m going to make it *easy* for those competitors.  After all, like you, I’m an entrepreneur and as such, I’m fiercely competitive. **Summary:  **When possible, work on really big problems.  They’re more fun, and it’s easier to get excited.  But, even if you’re not working on a really big problem, it’s OK, as long as you at least *care enough *about the problem you are solving that you don’t care *who* solves it.  You just want it solved. What do you think? ## Related Posts [Why PHP Is Fun and Easy But Python Is Marriage Material development October 27, 2010 I think a lot about choices and decisions at startups. That is the life of a software entrerpreneur: It’s a stready stream of hard work, occasionally punctuated by some really hard… Read Post ** ](https://www.onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/20493/Why-PHP-Is-Fun-and-Easy-But-Python-Is-Marriage-Material.aspx) [Go West, Young Entrepreneur! Is The Valley Better For Software Startups? startup December 12, 2006 I want to start out by saying that this is one of the more troubling articles that I’ve written for this blog. The topic is something that is near and dear to my heart (i.e. Boston as… Read Post ** ](https://www.onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/59/Go-West-Young-Entrepreneur-Is-The-Valley-Better-For-Software-Startups.aspx) Subscribe ### Get OnStartup News and Updates in your Inbox. ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Dharmesh Shah", "url" : "https://www.onstartups.com/author/dharmesh-shah" }, "datePublished" : "2010-02-22T20:32:00.000Z", "headline" : "Why I Wish My Competitors Well And You Should Too", "image" : [ "https://www.onstartups.com/hs-fs/file-13148333-jpg/images/competition.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/11916/Why-I-Wish-My-Competitors-Well-And-You-Should-Too.aspx", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.onstartups.com/hubfs/mjtw-assets/logos/onstartups-logo@2x.png" }, "name" : "OnStartups" } } ```