Do you ever feel you acted too late?

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Just thinking back over the years I have been on the internet I started to realise that several times I have thought of an interesting idea only for someone to come along and saturate the market with an almost identical idea while I was busy still contemplating whether or not it would work.

Not giving exact examples because some of you probably wouldn't believe that it was a thought in my mind before some dude came along and made millions with it but for example, back when mobile ringtones were just starting out (polyphonic) I had an idea which I just couldn't act upon because I didn't have the technical knowledge or ready funds to sink into it and make it reality. I think most people on here will know just how much the mobile ringtone niche was worth back then.

That was just one thing I remembered and there have been several more times when it could have been me such as with mobile apps that I've thought of but while I've been busy trying to learn about apps one of my kids comes along and shows me this great new app they have on their phone. Guess what? It's similar to what I was thinking about!!!

I'm not complaining about this, it's just basically tough luck. I didn't act quickly enough but I wondered if any of you guys ever have this happen to you?
 
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I totally believe you - it's happened to me many many times.

My main business partner and I have a constant flow of ideas we discuss, analyze and decide what to work on and what needs to wait.

The ideas that wait are what we term the 'whiteboard ideas' and we have a large and constantly growing whiteboard (mainly due to time constraints).

This year alone we have seen at least 5 new business startups that got serious VC funding and the corresponding news coverage - all of them written on our virtual whiteboard.

And that has been going on for years.

I never look at it negatively though - at least we know those whiteboard ideas are good and that we were ahead of the game when we thought of them - and that whiteboard has many dozens of ideas on it.
 
I don't see it as a negative, if anything it just makes me more determined because if someone has made a fortune out of what I consider to be my idea then eventually I will get in first and I'll be the one hitting the headlines.

Some of the ideas I have had have been quite specific so I know I can come up with decent ideas, not sure what stops me implementing them. Maybe lack of knowledge or just unsure if its a viable idea but I am starting to break away from that mindset now and just act.
 
I think that always, and it's almost always a fallacy, which is why we stress "Take Action" so much as you're understanding now.

Very few things are new. The idea of perfection, or being the first, is a very alpha mindset, but it isn't alpha to knock yourself down. Publish something, put work out there, and compete.

Think about how many apps and plugins exist that do the same thing, all you have to do is do it better and provide more value.
 
I heard about bitcoin before it became big news and valuable, back when it was considered an "underground" currency for shady deals. I never thought it could ever possibly become such a valuable asset as it is today. As such, I never gave it any attention.

LakeForest said:
I think that always, and it's almost always a fallacy, which is why we stress "Take Action" so much as you're understanding now.

Very few things are new. The idea of perfection, or being the first, is a very alpha mindset, but it isn't alpha to knock yourself down. Publish something, put work out there, and compete.

Think about how many apps and plugins exist that do the same thing, all you have to do is do it better and provide more value.
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I'm not suggesting that I have to be the first at something, no one would build websites any more if you absolutely have to be the first with an idea. I doubt very much that there is a current subject known that hasn't been written about somewhere on the internet.

My first example was for a very specific idea in a market that was realistically only sustainable for a relatively short period of time. I highly doubt that anyone is making money with polyphonic ringtones today.
 
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Elon-Musk-Picture-Quote.jpg
 
Happens all the time. But one thing I found out is that executing an idea is 1000 times more difficult than having ideas.

I used to have 300+ domain names. All bright ideas I had at some point. Then I learned that ONE well executed project is worth more than 300 half assed efforts.

Most of the bright genius ideas we have on a daily basis would not be successful projects. Focus on one, then give it all you got.
 
Motivational quotes are all well and good but when you are looking back at times when you didn't act and could potentially have been living off the profits for the rest of your life if you had they just don't cut it.

It's how we adapt in the future (or present) that matters now.

Alpha7 said:
"Luck" is when Opportunity & Preparedness meet.
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f0rest00 said:
Elon-Musk-Picture-Quote.jpg
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bartosimpsonio said:
Happens all the time. But one thing I found out is that executing an idea is 1000 times more difficult than having ideas.

I used to have 300+ domain names. All bright ideas I had at some point. Then I learned that ONE well executed project is worth more than 300 half assed efforts.

Most of the bright genius ideas we have on a daily basis would not be successful projects. Focus on one, then give it all you got.
Click to expand...

That's what I mean to do now but as I said, some of the ideas I have had were very specific and someone did make them work before I could. Just the way it goes really, I can't afford to spend my life worrying about what might have been, I'm too old for that now. Time for me to focus on just making a substantial living for my family.
 
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There are also times where not being the first to market is better.

Sometimes the 'first to market' companies focus so much on their original idea that they fail to adjust - and then a newcomer appears and does it better (with knowledge gained from the 1st company's 'test').
 
Trepanated said:
There are also times where not being the first to market is better.

Sometimes the 'first to market' companies focus so much on their original idea that they fail to adjust - and then a newcomer appears and does it better (with knowledge gained from the 1st company's 'test').
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Motorola in cell phones.

Altavista in search....

Just to give two examples of getting there first and being run over by better products later.
 
Don't forget blackberry and nokia if you want to talk about cell phones. Wasn't it just a couple of years ago both company's were staring down the bankruptcy barrel because they both thought the touch screen market would never take off!!!!
 
Lesson: think it, do it. And if you don't do it, then understand why you're not doing it - it's always easy looking back thinking why didn't i do that, but sometimes there's a reason why you don't take action on certain things (like starting too many projects at once, which is definitely not good).
 
I regret that I didn't pick up Scrapebox and Article Marketing Robot at their prime. I was hearing about guys ranking by just blasting their sites with both of these tools (and others), but I was a Newb, and was paranoid.
 
the real question we should all be asking ourselves right now is...
"what should i be acting on now?"

if you're not learning from the past and taking action, then 5 years from today you'll be sitting around having this exact same conversation. the only difference will be the names of the companies you failed to invest in.

starting reading up on current trends and take some calculated risks, before it's too late.
 
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