👋 Hi, I'm Nicholas Roberts. I create and perform music and write this daily blog.

I currently live in Los Angeles with my wife and golden retriever.

Email me: hello@nicholasroberts.io

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My best friend called me today to share a project he’s been working on. He works in tech.

A few weeks ago, he started building a prototype of a new app idea he had. He’s been putting in a bit of work every day, refining and tweaking it.

He was excited to share it with me today and spent twenty five minutes explaining all the bells and whistles and nuances of the idea. He even had mockups of early prototypes to show off.

He explained the user interface, the functionality, and the possibilities of what’s to come.

However, I already knew exactly how it worked.

I'd just used a similar tool for exactly the same purpose earlier in the day.

And the one I used was significantly more powerful already. It was intuitive to use and seemed to be a dominant tool in the marketplace for this task already.

But I didn't discourage my friend from continuing. In fact, I think he should double down on the idea.

It's not uncommon for good ideas to pop up in multiple places at once.

Nobody can capture all of the “market.”

Heck, even Amazon, a company able to deliver faster and cheaper than anyone else on the planet, has competitors.

It's no secret how the idea came to my friend. It's an obvious solution that anyone working in his industry would recognize.

It was inevitable that someone would chase this same idea. Not if, but when.

But, a pizza restaurant doesn't need to sell all the pizza in town to be successful.

Selling a few slices to enthusiastic diners can still make a thriving restaurant.

Worried you’re late to the market? Or that your idea might already taken?

You probably are. And it probably was.