Original ideas aren't a necessity in this business. Execution and timing are really important too. Anyone remember MySpace? LiveJournal? Xanga? ConnectU?

Original ideas aren't a necessity in this business. Execution and timing are really important too. Anyone remember MySpace? LiveJournal? Xanga? ConnectU? I'm pretty sure they all predated Facebook, were quite similar to Facebook, and Facebook just outmaneuvered them with execution. Or think about Blizzard in the mid-to-late '90s. Warcraft/Starcraft weren't the first RTS games -- Blizzard wasn't an innovation leader -- but they were extremely polished products. Flawless execution beat first mover advantage; have you heard anything about the Dune series lately from someone who's not a hardcore retrogamer?