Ask HN: How do you guys find your competitors?
Hacker News users share strategies for identifying competitors, including searching for similar products on directories like G2 or Capterra, analyzing keyword-targeted ads on Google and social media, monitoring investor-backed startups in their space, browsing GitHub and Product Hunt, and using sales intelligence tools to find companies targeting the same audience.
Background
- Hacker News (HN) is a tech news and discussion forum run by Y Combinator, a top Silicon Valley startup accelerator. "Ask HN" is a standard post format where users pose questions to the community.
- This submission asks a practical business question: how do startup founders and indie developers systematically identify who they're competing against? It reflects a common early-stage challenge — founders often build in a bubble and need to figure out the competitive landscape for investor pitches, product positioning, or strategic planning.
- The thread (visible in the comments) typically surfaces methods like searching industry keywords, using tools (e.g. SimilarWeb, G2, Crunchbase), checking app store categories, monitoring social media/forums, and asking customers directly. The value of the post is in crowdsourced, battle-tested tactics rather than textbook advice.