Copy or not copy [i will not promote]

A well known angel investor in Hungary said it raises a red flag for him (and for most of the investors) if you answer "nobody" to the question of "Who are your competitors?". He explains it is the worst answer from an investor's point of view because of three possible reasons: * a) if nobody has done it yet, it is might not worth it to do * b) there are competitors, but you don't know your own market * c) there are competitors and you are aware of it, but you lie So for an investor it is the best if you do something which has competitors, you are aware of it, and you communicate it clearly. On the other hand, when I tried to bring in the first users into my site, the first reactions are "it is the same like...", "what does it add compared to..." etc. My site is targeting a niche segment and the competitor who is the closest to my service offer is 4chan (please, have a look at it, seriously) which is using a 20 years old technology while my main value is a clearer and modern solution. My target audience are the users who are unhappy with the solutions what the market gives them at the moment, but I keep receiving responses that "it already exists". How do you handle such resistance? Every product is unique in its own (even Facebook and Twitter are competitors but they give different user experience for very similar thing). What are your tools in bringing in customers even when the market has answers to the questions what your product provides?