Build it better / different / more focused.

hard mode: the competitor is a YC company and you are not even in US

Would you answer the same?

So you get to learn from their mistakes, and you don't even have to start in the same market!

You could even advertise yourself as being like your competitor, but the local option. Sell them on the idea that by paying you instead of the competitor, the money would stay in the community instead of going to the USA.

Absolutely. If you aren't in the US, market it to wherever you are. And YC is a funding/networking/mentoring mechanism, not a super power. Don't be intimidated just because someone is YC.

Totally. There's much more to the world than the US. Use your differences to your advantage -- you can be more localized.

For example, I'm working in a little niche with some US competitors. But my partners have found that being "Made in Canada" is actually helping us sell to our local Canadian small businesses. Additionally, we're going to do a French Canadian version of our app and market in Quebec -- our US competitors haven't touched multiple language support. These small differentiators will help make us a successful business; not a Google or an Apple, but, a source of revenue that we built by ourselves out of nothing.

Competition is a sign that you're on the same track others have identified as being viable. It's much better to have competition than to be all alone.

Modding Minecraft might be a good place to start, assuming like so many kids that age he is into it.

Timing, non-compete, and during the time I work all IP belongs to them (Google).

I'm pretty sure you can negotiate this with HR at Google. I've seen it done for internships at Microsoft, so I don't see why Google would be any different. Most companies hire interns based on personal projects, so they're fairly receptive to letting interns continue working on them (in their own time, without Google resources).

don't work on your startup on-site + inform your supervisor & HR.

"The president created this vast dragnet by executive order." That's a remarkable simplification. Makes a good sound bite, but demonstrates, to me anyway, that he doesn't mean what he's saying.

Falsifying the origin of a problem you claim to intend to fix puts that claim in quite a bit of doubt.

The net becomes a utility (and ISPs utility providers), and every breach, exploit, or unprotected private data leak becomes a terrorist action at prosecutorial discretion.

Something to think about.

I dual booted for years, and finally made the switch to Linux full time just over two years ago.

Configuring a fresh Linux install takes a bit of effort, but that effort is adding things I want to make it just the way I like, rather than removing unnecessary cruft to get it more or less how I like. That's a key difference for me.