TL;DR: No single SaaS company has ever died of a competitor

Yesterday’s B2B SaaS CEO Mastermind focused on the monthly case study. 

Halfway through the track, this fascinating question dropped: What do you see as the biggest risk to your business?

Our guest’s answer was one worth reflecting upon.

It’s ourselves. Us not getting better at selling our product. That’s the biggest risk. If we have managed to come this far with all of our hiccups and bad things that we did, it’s just in our hands. 

I recently talked to a few people at Y Combinator, and they said this: no company we have ever funded has died because of a competitor. It has always been because of founder fights, the wrong market focus, shady products, and Go To Market issues. 

Here’s the thing

Companies that fail don’t fail because of competition that took away the market. It’s the opposite. 

In my book, I talk a lot about the danger of complacency. 

• Losing track because you’re too much in love with your product.
• Telling yourself stories (and believe them) that you’re doing great
• Failing to understand changing market dynamics
• Failing to understand changing customer needs 

Companies kill themselves because they stop focusing on the essence.

Question for you to reflect upon

If you were a competitor of the SaaS business you run today, what weakness would you take advantage of if you were them?

 

Be Remarkable

 

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