You don’t need a unique idea

I’ve always disliked the sentiment that you need a ‘unique’ idea to succeed. That somehow you will have an idea that the 7.5~ billion other people on earth haven’t thought of yet. That it is so unique only you but only can have thought of that.

Well sorry to burst your bubble, but that ain’t happening. There is no way, and I mean no way that all your thoughts are unique compared to every person in the world. I mean think about it, all people learn the same mathematics. They learn similar languages. They learn about similar cultures. They experience similar growth in terms of education or physicality.

But somehow you will think of an idea that is soo unique that nobody has. I mean it can be, but the chances are so low that it is practically impossible.

Would you say that Elon Musk for example has unique ideas? Humankind has already been dreaming of going outer space probably since they discovered the moon. The first concept of an electric car was even before the 1900s. Do we praise Elon Musk, one of the most successful business people right now as ‘the brain of unique ideas’?

No.

Every technology that has ever been created was incremental improvements throughout the years. From telephones to smartphones. From toothbrushes to electric ones. From desktops to laptops. From wired mouses to wireless. Everything is incremental improvements over the other.

It can also be similar but different. Like Windows vs macOS. Coca-Cola vs Fanta. GitHub vs GitLab. Facebook vs Twitter. Yes, one of them is probably dominating a certain market. Like Facebook is still way bigger than Twitter. But that doesn’t mean Twitter can’t exist.

The example I always give is to count how many water bottle brands exist in the world. Do you truly think every water bottle will taste that different? No.

You don’t need a unique idea. You need a proven idea and problem that you can improve on or add your own twist to it. Then build and market it consistently. That’s all you need to start a new product.