Netflix started in 1997 as a DVD rental-by-mail service. Today, we know it as a streaming giant.

If they had launched streaming in 1997, it wouldn’t have worked.

If they had never started at all, there’s a good chance they never would have become what they are today.

Streaming wasn’t just a good idea; it was an idea waiting for the right conditions. Broadband speeds, changing consumer habits, smartphones, and a lot more had to come together before it could take off. Without those things, a streaming service in the late ‘90s was just a plot point in a sci-fi movie.

The right timing can make a good idea great.

The wrong timing can also hinder an idea, no matter how good it is.

When I started my agency SuperFriendly in 2012, I built it as a distributed model by default: no central office, just a team spread across the world. Back then, that was weird. Some clients even walked away because of it. Today, remote work is the norm.

SuperFriendly wasn’t just distributed; it was built on a network of specialists freelancers instead of full-time employees. That wasn’t unheard of, but it was uncommon. Nowadays, almost every new modern agency cropping up touts their “networks of trusted partners” on their About pages.

Timing changes everything. Some ideas don’t take off—not because they aren’t good, but because the right conditions aren’t in place yet. Other ideas succeed, not just because of their strength, but because of a perfect storm of industry shifts, cultural trends, and even luck.

Design systems are a good example, a niche I’ve worked heavily in for the last decade Designers have used systems since the beginning, but a combination of factors—widespread web standards, tech overspending, the rise of mobile apps—set the stage for design systems to become a business-critical practice.

The industry is shifting again—between AI, post-pandemic adaptations, and the massive rise in new businesses, new possibilities are emerging every day. Business applications in 2023 were up 57% from the years prior. It’s too early to tell how much causation exists between those, but I have to imagine there’s at least some direct link.

It’s a great time to be innovating, to be inventing. What ideas have you had in the past for which today would be even better timing? What about the state of tools, the industry, or the world surface a need or an opportunity unlike other times in history? What’s something you thought about years ago that might finally be possible now?

I have my own musings that I’ve been noodling on for a little while. On Monday, I’ll share a big one. It’s about the future, but also about the past.

Any guesses?

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