I think you're thinking of the Lightspeed Leapfrog trope[1]. (In a more general sense, it's the inverse of the first-mover advantage: the law of the handicap o

I think you're thinking of the Lightspeed Leapfrog trope[1]. (In a more general sense, it's the inverse of the first-mover advantage: the law of the handicap of a head start[32]) Or: the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. [1] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LightspeedLeapfrog https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LightspeedLeapfr... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_handicap_of_a_head_start https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_handicap_of_a_head_...