log 47: competition

hevy

I cannot express how much I learned in the past 10 minutes. I was scrolling around Instagram, posting a new food reel of mine when I saw a workout posted by someone I follow. In the top left, there was an app logo, hevy. Why not take a look? Seconds after opening the app I learned something new. Following their sign-up pathway taught me 10 more things. Following the work done by a small team of developers gave me answers to questions I didn't even know I had. I obtained new ideas, answers, and now questions. In one of my favorite books, How BIG things get done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner, there was a quote that really stuck with me. 

“Don’t be the first.” 

My project and company are not unique. There are hundreds of thousands of them out there, and many of them are successful. It’s important to look at the experience of others and to learn what you can. It’s a free resource that cost someone else heaps of time. Foundations for big projects are all similar, it’s only the tip of the iceberg that is unique. So you shouldn’t be spending all your time innovating a new way to do everything while in the setup phase of a new venture. Just copy what works!