Sometimes “seen it before” with a better execution or secret sauce is far better than “not seen it before” — think how hard it is to change people’s habit. We don’t have to look far to see giants like Google & Facebook that all started off in the “seen it before” market but with a unique twist that gave them the upper hand, a competitive advantage.

Last, “seen it before” feels like it could be a cognitive bias. Great ideas look simple and ordinary on the outside. Heck they may be missed because no one seems to care. Until few years later when the cat is out of the bag e.g. WhatsApp.