"Copies never, ever achieve the success of the thing they copied."

LMFAO. Suggested reading: Copycats: How Smart Companies Use Imitation to Gain a Strategic Edge http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1422126730?ie=UTF8&link...

Innovation is overrated- users don't care about it, they care about delivered value. Half the time the innovators have crappy executions, but are so wedded to their idea that they refuse to simplify, change, and evolve.

That's when cloners come in and beat the living daylights out of them by copying and improving upon their innovation.

There's a fantastic book on this, 'Copycats':

http://www.amazon.com/Copycats-Smart-Companies-Imitation-Str...

Incredibly well-written for a HBS book, lots of solid case studies, and some interesting research into the nitty gritty numbers behind innovation vs imitation.