Someone is already doing it

Oliver, Marc, and Alexander Samwer. German brothers and co-founders of Alando, Jamba!, and Berlin-based startup studio Rocket Internet.

Over dinner, a friend might tell us about a new business idea. Inevitably, someone else at the table starts Googling on their phone, and announces, “sorry man, someone is already doing it.”

As if that’s a reason not to pursue the idea.

No industry has just one player. There’s always room. Good ideas end up getting copied. Refined. Improved. Acquired.

Before Kickstarter, there was Indiegogo.

Before FedEx, there was UPS.

In 1999, three brothers in Munich launched Alando. A German online auction modeled after eBay. It became so successful they sold it to eBay for $43M just 100 days after going live.

If we have a novel idea and someone else is already doing it, that’s good. That means a market exists. And if we’re committed enough, we might be able to help grow and capture some of it.