Revisiting Rework

Reflecting a few days ago, I remembered Rework, a book by Jason Fried and DHH creators of BaseCamp Project management tool; 

They wrote the book back in 2010, but it was kind of a goto guide for me as a young entrepreneur; I read many books back there with the hope of reducing the number of mistakes I would make while building a company; 

While I like some of the concepts, the section about competitors does not, in my opinion, stand the test of time. 

The chapter has many good ideas, but one thing struck me:

"...

Who cares what they’re doing? In the end, it’s not worth paying much attention to the competition anyway. Why not? Because worrying about the competition quickly turns into an obsession. What are they doing right now? Where are they going next? How should we react? Every little move becomes something to be analyzed. And that’s a terrible mind-set. It leads to overwhelming stress and anxiety. That state of mind is bad soil for growing anything.

(Fried, Jason; Heinemeier Hansson, David. Rework (p. 114). Crown. Kindle Edition. )

" 

This idea or sentiment is something I no longer agree with - competitors are the voice of the customers - not your customers - so that makes them even more valuable; they represent the market you didn't tap into or can't tap into. If you don't care about growing your business - you should not care about the competitors; 

I agree about worrying about it or obsessing about it—you don't need that. You need a constructive set of activities to ensure you understand the market you operate in and its dynamics.