I got the chance to sit down with a few investors to discuss the viability of this little site called qrisper.com.  While I’m still new to all this, I was confident in my pitch and my value proposition.  Not once did I think I would make the newbie mistake of boldly claiming that I have no direct competition.  Man, the incredulous looks I got when I did say that…classic!

I weaved myself out of that little situation by explaining that yes, there are tons of Q&A sites out there but none of them aggregates answers…at least not yet.  They couldn’t argue with that.  But then they hit me with the apparently common investor hullabaloo of, “How will you protect yourself from competitors that have millions in funding that will most definitely copy your idea, which by the way is super duper fantastic?!” (Ed. – quote has been paraphrased and embellished for effect).

I guess that is something to be wary of but nothing that keeps me awake at nights.  Because that decision – to copy another company’s idea to make your own – is not an easy one to make.  Some things to consider before making such a decision:

• Where are you in terms of your own product development?
• How flexible are you with your product roadmap?
• How easily can you modify your existing infrastructure and user behavior?
• Are you willing to completely scrap your existing methodology, if necessary?
• Are you willing to take the risk of rebuilding your entire infrastructure, if necessary?
• Do you require board approval to completely change course?

My take is that it’s actually hardest for those well-funded startups to scrap their idea to chase another (endowment effect).  A small, nimble startup could come out of nowhere and try to run with your idea.  But that’s just called competition.  Those guys face the same hurdles that you do in building a brand/userbase.  And the big guys, they’re too busy actually making money (or trying not to lose money) to worry about things like innovation.

Bottom line – yes there is always a risk of copycats.  So what?  Just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t fester and act accordingly.  Also note that this response won’t help you get funding.