

Ask HN: Is it bad to entertain an idea that has already been tried? - rtp

I'm playing with an idea in my head that would be very fun to implement, but the idea is not particularly original and although I haven't checked out how many sites have done the same thing already, it feels a lot like the idea is not worth implementing except for fun.<p>So, I'd like to ask you whether it's a waste of time to entertain ideas that have already been tried (successfully or not)?
======
benologist
Probably everything anyone on HN has thought on has been at least tried, in
some cases successfully.

That doesn't mean you can't do it better.

------
ABrandt
A bad idea? I would say its quite the opposite. Just look at it this way--your
market research is essentially done for you.

If there are existing businesses with the same idea, who are their customers?
What iterations did they go through to reach product/market fit? _How are they
vulnerable?_

If there's currently no one profiting from this idea...well, why the hell
isn't there? Did someone raise some cash, get a bunch of press, but ultimately
fail to execute? Awesome, you now know what _not_ to do.

The general idea behind all of this is that you need not worry too much about
the competition at this point. Learn from it, sure. But please don't let it
discourage you from even trying. Good luck!

------
AdamGibbins
Its all in the implementation, not the idea. Its certainly worth giving it a
shot if you can identify flaws in the original implementation.

Even if its only for fun, do it. I'll be incredibly surprised if you learn
nothing from it, even if it fails.

------
rubinelli
Lots of innovative projects failed because they hit too early, when the market
or the technology weren't ready yet. There were dozens of sites like Groupon
back in 2000. Tablet computing has been around for 30 years, and it almost hit
the mainstream with Palm, only to languish again, until Steve Jobs decided it
was time to tackle it.

Besides, there aren't crowded markets. There are just markets you haven't
segmented enough yet. <http://www.ericsink.com/laws/Law_02.html>

------
gigantor
Here's a list of some ideas that were entertained despite already existing,
and ended up wildly successful. Any of them sound familiar?

\- Google ("Nah, who needs another search engine")

\- Facebook (MySpace)

\- Zappos (selling shoes, idea copied from a guy in 800BC)

In an exerpt from Felix Dennis' book 'How to Get Rich', he describes how ideas
can't be patented, it's the execution behind it that matters.

Personally, none of my ideas are original. My only hope is to execute existing
ideas better.

------
techbio
Does it solve a problem for you? Is it a subset of something bigger you will
face eventually anyway? Is it fun, actually?

Yes, if yes to any of the above. And regardless, implementing something that's
been done already gives a huge advantage over the edge-of-existence startups--
because you begin with at least two data points. What worked or failed before,
and your own project state.

May learn more about the existing thing, and almost certainly have a clearer
picture of your own relative progress.

------
starpilot
A couple more successful examples: tumblr and posterous. Built by newcomers to
the blogging crowd, brought nothing new except for a better implementation.
Meanwhile vox.com from Six Apart shut down. There are also a ton of social
book reading sites. Goodreads is growing the fastest, even though it launched
considerably later than LibraryThing (which was the first major one). Shelfari
was acquired by Amazon.

------
hasenj
If you think the existing solutions suck and you know why they suck and you
know how to build something better, by all means go for it.

If you don't really think they suck, or you don't really have an idea about
why they suck, or don't really know how to make a better alternative, maybe
you should reconsider ..

~~~
techbio
I wouldn't want to go chasing rockets.

------
Sthorpe
I love building stuff. Its one of those guilty pleasures that consume my
weekends. The truth about fun projects is that you can waste your life away
working on them. I would recommend that you really think about this idea more.
Maybe you could see yourself doing this for much longer than a weekend? Why
not?

------
bpourriahi
Why do you care to judge an abstraction of another abstraction? How about
judging the idea itself?

------
thibaut_barrere
If it took you time to find the other sites but you know how to market it,
then I'd say it's not bad, go for it :)

------
nailer
Pardon the short answer, but simply:

No, its not bad at all. A. google B. Facebook

------
ct
No. Anything can always be improved upon.

------
bond
You'll never know until you try it...

