????潛在投資者可能會問投資對象的一個最重要的問題是能拿出什么方案成功應對競爭。不只是今天，而是在他們投資的3-5年內。這個問題沒有一個完美的答案，但很多錯誤的回答會馬上降低你的可信度。

????這個概念即“可持續競爭優勢”。好的回答或許是“我們在基礎科技領域有幾項專利，潛力巨大，我們有望在未來十年每年都推出新的產品，永遠比競爭對手領先一步。”這意味著當前具有競爭力、行業進入門檻高以及未來保持領先的潛力。

????我們都知道凡事皆無一定。因此，理想的回答總是要結合一點為人處世的技巧，展現出充分的信心、謙遜和誠實。投資者往往只是想看看你如何應對這些難題。下面是一些常見的錯誤回答：

????? “我們一個競爭對手也沒有。”現如今誰都知道這可能是最糟的回答，因為這意味著你的產品沒有市場，或者你根本沒有費心去了解競爭形勢。要知道就算汽車和火車也會構成競爭，因此，不論是拿出替代性的解決方案，還是什么也不做，都是真正的競爭。

????? “我們有先發優勢。”率先進入市場對于像IBM或通用電氣（GE）這樣的大公司是有意義的，因為它們有資源可以保持這個優勢。但對于在大公司的夾縫中求生存的初創企業來說就不是這么回事了。一旦大公司看到你的業務發展迅速，它們很快就會回過神來，后來者居上。因此，這樣的優勢不可持續。

????? “我們的產品是真正的顛覆性技術。”這是先發優勢論的變體，潛臺詞是技術變革帶來了巨大的領先優勢。投資者會懷疑你的技術是否有出路。顛覆性技術往往需要多年時間才能被市場所接受，這么長的時間投資者可等不起。

????? “只有我們的團隊能做到。”不管團隊有怎樣豐富的經驗和高學歷，這樣的說法都會使人覺得狂妄自大。世上沒人能壟斷知識和技能。投資者只會得出結論，這個團隊可能不切實際，很難合作。

????? “我們計劃免費提供產品，靠廣告賺錢。”低價競爭往往可以奏效，但免費意味著沒有真正的價值。只有能拿出5,000萬美元砸向病毒性營銷，將頁面瀏覽量提高到每月百萬人次，拉到相當金額的廣告費，所謂免費才是一項不錯的短期互聯網策略。

????? “我們的專利將提供保護。”專利是有價值的，因此這個回答比前5個都好得多。但投資者都知道，僅憑初創公司是無力承擔高昂的專利訴訟費用的。而且如果有機會，大多數專利都是可以繞過的。

????最后，盡量闡明應對競爭的方案后，明智的做法或許是承認這個方案并不完美，但同時強調自己有經驗、有知識來應對永恒的市場競爭。它告訴投資者：你們對自己的產品有充分的信心，但同時具有務實的態度。投資者喜歡務實的人，但不是不敢冒險的人。

????可持續的競爭優勢不是目的，只是過程。不管是否在尋找投資者，每個優秀的創業者最好還是為此做好準備，以免到時措手不及。

????本文作者馬丁?茲威靈是初創企業專業顧問公司Startup Professionals Inc.的創始人兼首席執行官。

????譯者： zdm

????One of the most important questions you will be asked by potential investors is how your solutions beats the competition. Not just today, but over the three to five year life of their investment. There is no perfect answer to this question, but there are many wrong answers which will immediately jeopardize your credibility.

????The concept is called "sustainable competitive advantage." A good answer might be "We have several patents on the base technology, which is so robust that we expect to roll out new products every year for the next ten years, always staying a step ahead of our competitors." That implies competitive now, a strong barrier to entry, and the potential to stay in the lead.

????We all recognize that there are no guarantees. So the best responses always require a combination of street smarts, confidence, humility, and honesty. Investors are often just checking to see how you tackle hard questions. Here is a collection of common red flags to avoid:

????? "We don't have any competitors." As everyone should know by now, this is the worst possible answer, since it implies that there is no market for your product, or you haven't bothered to look for competition. Remember that cars compete with trains, so alternative solutions, or doing nothing, are real competition.

????? "We have the first mover advantage." First-to-market is meaningful for a large company, like IBM or GE, which has the resources to sustain their move, but is not relevant for a startup, when surrounded by "big gorillas." If they see you getting traction, the giants will awake quickly and step on you. This advantage is not sustainable.

????? "Our product is truly disruptive technology." This is a variation on the first mover argument, implying a paradigm shift that gives you a tremendous lead. Investors will suspect you have a technology looking for a solution. Disruptive technologies typically take years to catch on, which is longer than they can afford to wait.

????? "Only our team can make this work." This statement comes across as arrogance, no matter how much experience and technical degrees your team has. No one in this world has a monopoly on knowledge and implementation skills. Investors will conclude that this is probably an impossible and unrealistic team to work with.

????? "We plan to offer it for free, and live off advertising revenue." Undercutting competitors in price is always a good strategy, but free implies no real value. Free is a good short-term Internet strategy, if you have $50 million to spend on viral marketing to get your page-views up to the million per month needed for significant advertising revenue.

????? "Our patent will protect us." Patents are worthwhile, so this answer is far better than the first five. Yet every investor knows that a mere startup will not be able to afford a patent battle in court, and most patents can be circumvented if the opportunity is large enough.

????In the end, after stating your best arguments, it's probably smart to concede that there are no silver bullets, but emphasize that you have the experience and knowledge to put up a never-ending fight. This tells investors that you are realistic, despite your conviction and confidence in your product. Investors like realists, but not wimps.

????A sustainable competitive advantage is not a destination, but a journey. Whether you are looking for an investor or not, every good entrepreneur better plan for this journey before he finds his backside exposed.

????Marty Zwilling is CEO & Founder of Startup Professionals Inc.