Necessity is still the mother of most innovation

Ever wondered why similar startups surface roughly at the same time? There is a generally-held view that since these startups talk to similar VCs and since VC community is a tightly knit community, the idea spreads around. Since I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, I have to look for a plausible explanation. After all …… assuming for a second that VCs spill beans, why do similar ideas reach VCs at the same time in the first place?

Different forms of an innovative idea evolve or surface at roughly the same time because sustainable innovation stems from necessity. The problems and issues you are facing and thinking about are also faced by and pondered upon by several, among whom some like yourself could be thinking of possible solutions to the issue. This is no multilateral telepathy. It is a simple case of people around the world being limited by common technological contours looking to stretch those contours further out. Among the possible solutions that people think of, there just happen to be a subset of those solutions that have similar specs. And so you have similar startups mushrooming at roughly the same time.

I am also going to take a jab at why certain web startups for instance sign up hundreds of thousands during the trial or beta stage without any marketing. I think this is because majority of the early users of a new site/service are those who have also experienced and thought of the issues that the new site resolves, in the manner it does. So they have a solution in front of them for an issue about which they have been thinking at varying levels of detail. They instantly develop affinity. They feel a connection. If you have been thinking about how to connect to your family/relatives more and then you come across a site like Geni, I guarantee you will sign up the first time you come across the site.

This multilateral innovative thinking sounds more plausible than ‘tipping points’ or your conspiracy theories because it also explains the relevance of the timing factor. When is it a good time to launch an idea or a product? Obviously when several people are thinking on the same wavelength. Those several people would be your first set of customers. This is what people erroneously terms as viral marketing in Internet terms.

I am sorry if that sucks the romance out of your entrepreneurship. But there is still some romance to be found guessing the mass necessity and then playing the dice.