I keep seeing posts about finding pain points others haven't addressed, developing mvp, owning your unique niche…the whole move fast and break things mindset. However, it's not always the case that first mover is the one to be, its often the second mouse that gets the cheese.
In other words, duplicating what is working for someone else while adding to where they are weak is a solid strategy. Even if ends up that you will never be the biggest, not all people will like the biggest and look for alternatives.
Don't get stuck with the thinking that you need to be completely unique, being an alternative can also produce well.
Posted by skg574
6 Comments
Agreed. I’d rather be second to market, identify what the first mover is missing, improve on it, and quietly take the number one spot.
Totally depends upon person and location. Broad angle: Dubai, UAE always aim for the first and they do it.
But, USA aims for a far sight.
Totally depends upon person and location. Broad angle: Dubai, UAE always aim for the first and they do it.
But, USA aims for a far sight.
This patent and clever trademark says otherwise.
Even first movers fail. It is all about execution and vision.
Totally agree with this take. I wasted way too much time early on chasing “original” ideas that nobody asked for, thinking I had to be first. Built a couple MVPs that never got a single paying user because I was solving problems people didn’t really care about.
What finally clicked for me was looking at existing products people were already paying for and asking “what sucks here?” Then I’d build a leaner version that fixed that one thing. Didn’t make me the next unicorn, but I got my first paying customers way faster.
I used AI build tools (Softgen in my case) to crank out alternatives in a weekend. Example: a marketplace tool that already existed but had terrible onboarding. I rebuilt it with a smoother flow, demoed it to a few users, and they switched almost immediately. Took me days, not months.
So yeah, being second mouse is underrated. You don’t need to “invent” as much as you need to execute faster and polish the edges where incumbents are weak.