More than once, I've spoken to startup founders in second and third-tier markets who tell me that they are hesitant to enter the US market because they don't want to compete with Silicon Valley companies.

I always have to remind them that...

1. They are already competing with Silicon Valley companies - they just don't know it yet. Particularly if they're building a tool that is generalizable globally.

2. While those Silicon Valley companies are raising real money and real valuations and playing in a real market with massive upside potential, they are being resource-starved.

3. In any product/category where localization really matters, the Silicon Valley player is just as likely to come into the local market and eat their lunch when they're ready. Think everything from Coinbase to Airbnb.

The risk of competition in the US is completely misunderstood.

In the US, the market is so big that competition is not to be avoided - it's to be embraced. It is GOOD. It allows you to draft behind market makers and grow very big.

The competitive risk of US players is not that they're hard to compete with IN the US. The competitive risk is that those world-class competitors with massive war chests and market momentum will come and take you on in your home turf at their earliest convenience, crushing you because you were playing it small.

Remember...

Scale is the name of the game.

Many categories are "winner takes all" or "winner takes most".

The world is very, very small.

Flywheels are real.

Capital and courage are very real advantages - yes, even in the AI era.

Play with the big boys or risk being forgotten by history.