There are lots of personal and emotional characteristics that help winners build terrific new companies. They're important. But when it's a software company, guess what? The software really matters!
There are a number of elements that contribute to success, including concentrating your forces, targeting poorly defended or new territory, and rapid iterations in response to new knowledge and changing conditions. However, there's nothing like superior weapons to help your cause.
Your competitors are typically GIANTS compared to you, so giant that they darken the sky...
Darkening the sky is bad enough, but what's really scary is when they notice you, pay attention to you, and get in your face...
Now you have one choice and one choice only -- pull out your weapons. If your weapons (software) are truly, fundamentally superior (and you don't screw up the other things too badly), then you've got a good chance of vanquishing a larger, established, well-equipped foe...
Which feels awfully good and definitely deserves raising your arms in victory.
Conclusion
If giant competitors cover the sky with dirigibles, you had better be dive-bombing them with powered, fixed-wing airplanes. When invading a place that is well-defended by armies with swords and war horses, you'd better have guns and armor. When the giants in your industry dominate with a kind of software, your software had better have the same advantage that guns have over swords and airplanes have over balloons...and that smart little girls have over giant adults.
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