It becomes really apparent when you develop an app via the easiest possible path on every feature and then get trounced by another company that did it the hard

It becomes really apparent when you develop an app via the easiest possible path on every feature and then get trounced by another company that did it the hard way and in ways customers hadn't even imagined beforehand but now love. You'll be too far behind and too under-featured to ever catch up. Paradigm shifts are how markets are created and destroyed, after all, so it is quite possible to be under-prepared.