One of the most common sentences you hear startup founders say when they pitch is:
“Our market is 1 Gazillion-Trillion-Billion Dollars big. If we only get 1% of the market we will be fine.”
The problem with that sentence is — if your solution is any good (and for it to succeed in the market it better be) it will, by definition, eat a significant amount of the incumbent marketshare.
Thus saying that you believe your product will only get 1% marketshare in an established market means you yourself don’t believe that you’re unsetting the existing forces at play. And if you don’t believe it — why should I?
If you’re entering an established market with a disruptive product — you have to aim high and attack the incumbent. There is no room for 1% solutions.