build a better mousetrap
Create superior solution
To build a better mousetrap is to create an improved version of something, especially with the expectation that success will follow automatically.
The phrase comes from the saying "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door"—the idea that superior innovation guarantees recognition.
Often used skeptically: Everyone thinks they can build a better mousetrap, but most startups fail.
- buildCreate a structure
- trapDevice for catching animals
- bright ideaClever sudden thought
- proverbTraditional saying expressing truth
- inventionNew device or method
patent pending · ingenuity · colloquialism · innovation · game changer · device · design · idiom · construct · garage inventor · creativity · improvement · metaphor · problem solver · brainstorming · engineer · Yankee ingenuity · market
build a better mousetraprest on one's laurels
Stop improving after success
go through the motions · reinvent the wheel · stand pat · do nothing · stagnate
build a better mousetrapsettle for less
good enough for government work · satisfice · lower the bar · phone it in · make do
build a better mousetrapthrow out the baby with the bathwater
Lose essential while removing unwanted
tear down · abandon ship · give up · throw in the towel · back to the drawing board
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