Hot is the new hotness! Every month or so there’s a new hot topic in startup land. There was social, mobile, local, game mechanics blah blah. And with every wave of new hotness, comes a fresh wave of startups trying to get in on the deal. If it’s hot right now, and you’re thinking of getting in, don’t, it’s too late. Don’t even think of entering a space where others have a six month or more lead on you. Yeah, they’re grabbing all the attention right now, but in six months when they’re no longer flavour of the month, you’ll be the one left holding the bag.

They always says don’t trade stocks off the recommendations in the newspapers, because by then you’ve already missed out. This is exactly the same. If you want to swing for the fences, create something visionary that no-one else has thought of yet, or better yet, something so boring in an arena where competition will be sparse now and the foreseeable future. Yes, perhaps there’s someone else secretly working on the same thing as you right now, but if either of you turn out to be right, the other could be in a prime position to ride the other’s coat-tail to success.