I've been building an MVP for a startup idea after doing some market validation. It’s a solo side project (currently work full-time). I’ve put together a business plan and started development.

Just a few days ago, I discovered that another solo developer launched a beta tackling the exact same problem, with a similar approach. From what I can tell, they’re a recent grad and appear to be working on this full-time.

Now I’m unsure between two options:

1. Keep going and treat their launch as validation. The downside is they have a head start and more available time, so I risk playing catch-up.

2. Reach out and see if there’s an opportunity to team up. I have more experience, and while I don’t have a working product yet, I do have a solid business plan and partial development. I’m just not sure what kind of leverage or value proposition I’d be offering right now.

Has anyone here faced a similar situation? Any advice would be appreciated.