I couldn't agree more... I don't live in the US and I usually feel the need of some of the services you guys have, like mint or Glassdoor or any other thing.
With one of those things I got so fed up that I build it with a friend, and sometimes when I see someone complaining about this problem that we have tried to solve and I tell them about my site every now and then I hear "Hum... that already exists in the US, that is nothing." all I can do is laugh.
Because I think that it doesn't matter at all if it already exists. I have build it because I enjoy building it I don't aim to be the next Twitter or Facebook even they didn't ( Orkut already existed BTW) and if it becomes a company or any other thing Great! otherwise I can point my finger at the screen and say "I build that from scratch" and that for me is worth a lot.
There are also people who seem to systematically copy ideas from english-language-only or US-only web services and make a localized copies of them to some EU-countries.
Of course they might just come up with the same idea and find that there isn't a version in their first language, who knows.
Anyway, you can make an almost carbon copy me-too product to a new market and be successful.
It is GREAT if it already exists in a different market or language. That is proof that the idea is desirable. As long as the success isn't specific to the culture where it exists (so don't try a BBQ chain in Jerusalem), translate it to your market!
With one of those things I got so fed up that I build it with a friend, and sometimes when I see someone complaining about this problem that we have tried to solve and I tell them about my site every now and then I hear "Hum... that already exists in the US, that is nothing." all I can do is laugh.
Because I think that it doesn't matter at all if it already exists. I have build it because I enjoy building it I don't aim to be the next Twitter or Facebook even they didn't ( Orkut already existed BTW) and if it becomes a company or any other thing Great! otherwise I can point my finger at the screen and say "I build that from scratch" and that for me is worth a lot.