Every startup entrepreneur lives most of the day in fear: fear that his ideas will be stolen; fear that someone is creating the same product better, faster, and cheaper; fear that the idea may simply just be a bad one or won’t catch on. It’s because of these fears that we write up fancy documents called “Non-disclosure Agreements” and try to hide our trade-secrets from the world. This may not be such a bad idea and sometimes our fear is founded; after all, evil does lurk.

However, taking the somewhat pessimistic viewpoint that no idea is completely original and that someone out there is thinking the exact same thing you are, the important thing to focus on is not the grand idea, but the differentiators. Execution is key, and this is where the universe comes into play. Lucky for us humanoids, we aren’t bred in Matrix-like test-tube colonies; we all have different talents, experiences, histories, and ways of looking at things. Even if we have similar ideas, the differentiators inherent in ourselves will play out to the differentiators in our product executions. The most valuable asset that a product has, is a diverse set of passionate people behind it (the same thing goes for a child and her supportive parents).

Another thing to consider is that the potential market for any product (especially an Internet application) is huge. So huge in fact, that it can probably sustain more than one execution of a similar idea. Take Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity for example. As far as I can tell, their core idea is one and the same: booking travel tickets. However, the market sustains all three entrenched competitors; they are all seemingly successful. Google, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft: same thing. Want a real-world example? All the bakeries and pastry shops in New York City.

I say, don’t cast your net too wide, stick to your britches. People tend to latch on to authenticity.