“Your margin is my opportunity”
Jeff Bezos
Last week I ran competitive research on a tool I planned to build into Charm. A subreddit post writer. Something that generates Reddit-native launch posts matched to each community’s culture.
I found 15 tools doing this already.
SubClimb. MediaFast. Redreach. Replymer. ReplyAgent. Okara. SubredditSignals. And more.
My competitive landscape doc was supposed to validate a build. By tool number eight, it had become a shopping list.
SubClimb does the job for $9/mo:
- Five AI-generated posts per day
- Twenty-five replies
- Subreddit culture matching
- Ban protection
I signed up and moved on to the next launch.
When you find a red ocean, the correct move depends on which seat you’re in.
From the builder’s seat, 15 competitors is a warning. Margins compress. Differentiation costs time. Each feature you build already exists somewhere else.
From the buyer’s seat, 15 competitors is a gift. Quality went up because they’re all fighting for your dollar. Prices went down because someone always undercuts. The tool you’d spend weeks building is already live at a price that rounds to zero.
I’ve written about red oceans before. The standard framework says find the blue ocean. Swim where there’s space.
Or create a purple ocean.
The framework assumes you’re a builder.
The buyer’s move is the opposite. Seek red oceans.
When you find a red ocean, switch seats. Be the customer. Spend that build time somewhere you’re the only one in the water.
Buy the red ocean. Build the blue (or purple) ocean.
🔬
Where in your business are you building something that 10+ teams already built for you?
