The world catches up

The world catches up rapidly with the innovator.
Take Starbucks, for instance. It introduces coffee, triggers the ubiquitous coffee drinking culture in US and then the world . Now there are hundreds of coffee shops everywhere. From Mc Donald's to the exclusive coffee shops it's all over the place.
I guess it is really tough to be in Starbucks shoes now. You did start it, but now you have widespread competition, and it takes much more effort to sustain the the ingenuity. No one remembers you started it but it takes a hell lot to keep growing and sill be the leader. Still maintain the edge.
Google wasn't the first search engine in the world. But now it's the only one we think of.
Competition makes sustenance tough. Innovation is never enough. To lead continually, you have to have much more than that. You have to be the best all the time.
Like Starbucks, like Google.