You’ve heard it. Maybe you’ve said it. “Nobody’s doing this.” It feels like confidence. It sounds like vision. To every investor and advisor in the room, it’s a 🚩 so bright it practically glows.

This week, JDM and Cameron break down why “we have no competitors” is almost always wrong — and what founders are usually trying to say when they use it. There are shadow competitors (hint: spreadsheets count), empty rooms that signal nobody cares, and then there’s the differentiation case that founders actually mean but fumble on delivery. Learn the difference, and you’ll stop losing credibility before the pitch even lands.

Then we run three startup scenarios — an AI tool for independent insurance agents, a DEI-focused catering marketplace, and a pre-purchase return prevention platform for DTC brands — through our conviction scale and make our case in real time. Two of them have a numbers problem, one of them earns a jdm rant fueled by personal experience, and Cameron and jdm swap roles as the episode’s nice guy and crusher of dreams.

We close with a quick detour into bike shedding (the term, the origin, and why your startup team is absolutely doing it right now) and jdm’s experiment living with a smartwatch on one wrist and a Whoop on the other.

As always, thanks for listening.

—Cameron and JDM

Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction

02:00 - “Nobody’s doing this”: the three scenarios it signals

07:00 - Scenario 1: AI policy comparison tool for independent insurance agents

13:30 - Scenario 2: DEI catering marketplace

19:30 - Scenario 3: Pre-purchase return prevention for DTC brands

32:00 - Conviction scale ratings

38:00 - Frivolous Thoughts: bike shedding + the smartwatch experiment

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zerototraction.substack.com

“Nobody’s doing this” is not a competitive advantage