You have a great idea and then you discover somebody already thought of it, so what? The Entrepreneur starts by learning from other people who have ideas that are like yours. Chances are, their idea formed from somebody else.
Mark Zuckerberg connected with two brothers who had an idea to build a social networking application only visible to Harvard. They had this idea to keep it exclusive so others would not be able to use the data. They were limited to that idea because they didn’t have the skills or knowledge to take the network to the next level, but Mark Zuckerber, who is the real visionary expanded on their vision and created something bigger, what we know as Facebook today.
Their idea was worthless because they couldn’t or wouldn’t properly act on expanding their vision past fun and games of their campus. Zuckerberg on the other hand saw something bigger than even he could have ever imagined. He kept control of his vision and became the expert on what started as a niche.
That’s why who has the idea has nothing of value. That is unless they are an expert, or quickly become an expert. That’s why the twin brothers didn’t create Facebook, they lacked the skill that Zuckerberg has.
You may argue that patents are an idea which is sold. That’s partially true. Something like 95% of all patents never do anything. They simply go nowhere. That means they are worthless. The ones that do, are acted upon, which means the result of actions are.
This is why having an idea is worthless, unless you become the expert in the niche that services that idea and put it into action. That’s where the money is and that’s what you should focus on.