I disagree that there's waste. People do not participate in winner-takes-all contests very often. When you have 10 competing approaches, you still try to have a

I disagree that there's waste. People do not participate in winner-takes-all contests very often. When you have 10 competing approaches, you still try to have a plan B and a plan C for when you are not finding the best-for-everyone solution. Maybe you cover a smaller chunk of the demand, or find a way to make it cheaper. So while someone is taking up a longer-term, higher-risk project, others are trying shorter term solutions. And everyone wins: you have something done sooner rather than later, and long-term projects face less competition, so their chances of success are more tied to an actual fit than to a luck of outcompeting others.