Totally agree. I'm in a similar situation as the OP, and after the initial despondency found that the existence of a competitor is actually incredibly motivating.
Not only are things moving along faster now I have someone to benchmark myself against, it has really brought into sharp focus the areas I need to concentrate on. I've been able to learn from mistakes that they're making, rather than suffer the cost of making those mistakes myself. Overall the project is absolutely stronger as a consequence.
In fact, I'm probably more excited when they release a new feature than their average customer is.
Not only are things moving along faster now I have someone to benchmark myself against, it has really brought into sharp focus the areas I need to concentrate on. I've been able to learn from mistakes that they're making, rather than suffer the cost of making those mistakes myself. Overall the project is absolutely stronger as a consequence.
In fact, I'm probably more excited when they release a new feature than their average customer is.