{"id":10880,"date":"2015-01-15T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-15T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.wework.com\/?p=10880"},"modified":"2020-03-30T18:43:23","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T22:43:23","slug":"frenemy-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/frenemy-economy","title":{"rendered":"The frenemy economy: know your competitors"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this new\u00a0weekly column, Marco Greenberg, a long-time PR and marketing jedi specializing in venture-backed start-ups, will share his experience of the most common mistakes young entrepreneurs make that keep them from getting the love\u2014and the buzz\u2014they so justly deserve.<\/i><\/p>\n

Chapter Seven: Because Your Competitors Are Making You Crazy<\/h2>\n

Some of you might have read, Getting Real: The Smarter, Faster and Easier Way to Build a Successful Web Application<\/i><\/a> by 37 Signals. If you\u2019re a startup in growth mode \u2013 and, these days, who isn\u2019t \u2013 it\u2019s worth checking out for many reasons, including the directives to \u201chave an enemy\u201d and \u201cpick a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authors weren\u2019t being flippant. Competition gets the juices flowing and focuses you, challenges you, makes you and your company better, not to mention providing a proven source of recruits. But competition also provides other, less obvious benefits.<\/p>\n

In the \u201cfrenemy\u201d economy, it\u2019s good to keep your options open.\u00a0 Your enemy today might end up partnering with you tomorrow. Besides, you\u2019re judged on the company you keep, and your valuation soars if your entire category value is driven up by a couple of dashing rivals.<\/p>\n

But having competitors isn\u2019t simple, emotionally and practically. Faced with rivals breathing down their necks, I\u2019ve seen otherwise rational and highly accomplished entrepreneurs act like moody adolescents having a hissy fit when it comes to their competitors.\u00a0 Often times they exhibit what psychologists refer to it as \u201call or nothing\u201d or \u201chero or zero\u201d thinking rather than a more wise and dialectical middle path.<\/p>\n

Here are just some of the symptoms I\u2019ve witnessed.\u00a0 Ask yourself honestly if any apply to you:<\/p>\n

Total Denial<\/b>: This business owner has blinders on and has no time or interest for others in the field.\u00a0 Either because she is so convinced of her own greatness or because she thinks acknowledging her competitors might make them mightier, she acts as if there\u2019s no one else out there worth any attention.<\/p>\n

Bad ADD<\/b>:\u00a0 This entrepreneur has difficulty focusing on just one competitor and instead will argue, sometimes convincingly, that their competitors vary depending on the product line. He will insist that the market is so dynamic, there\u2019s no way anyone can keep track. Before you know it, the list of competitors balloons to include just about every company doing business under the sun.<\/p>\n

Serious OCD:<\/b>\u00a0 This technologist is so completely obsessed with his competitive set that he is in constant hyper-reactive mode. He has ordered his entire marketing team to spend hours each day conducting ongoing analysis of his competitors. Walk around his office\u2019s corridors, and you\u2019re more likely to hear people talking about rival companies than about their own. The competitors\u2019 respective CEOs are so top of mind within his company that they\u2019re referred to by their first names. Which, needless to say, is not cool.<\/p>\n

These are just a few common conditions. Others apply: some entrepreneurs get unhealthily envious of their competitors, some are paralyzed by crippling anxiety that everyone out there is doing a better job, and a few escape into all-encompassing grandiosity and argue that they, and they alone, are their industry\u2019s shining light.<\/b><\/p>\n

How to avoid these pitfalls? Here\u2019s the terrible and beautiful part: you can\u2019t. If you\u2019re doing business, if your life is your work, if you are passionate and caring and motivated, you\u2019re going to look outside your own office and take measure of your rivals. And because you\u2019re human, as soon as you do that, you\u2019re going to get emotional. The key is to tap your emotions and let them guide you to a more productive place. Here are a few strategies that can help:<\/p>\n