I feel if a domain has a very well evolving, competitive open source offering (VS Code), it's really hard to sell something else if the feature difference isn't big.
Perhaps they should have started by targeting something other than web development.
Nova feels like an editor for 10, 15 years ago when they were making Coda. It feels like its for when you have a bunch of simple static HTML files and maybe a sass watcher.
These days, web development got both more mature, complicated, and simpler, all in ways that makes it hard for Nova to make sense.
It can also be a great motivator. The new app has a lot to do and knows where to make improvements. The existing app has then one up them to stay relevant. Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand used to do this with each release. Now you see it between platforms like FB/Insta/TikTok/Twitter etc.
Perhaps they should have started by targeting something other than web development.