The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the next best time is right now ;)

Maybe the best quote I ever read. Never heard/read it before but I will probably quote it over and over again for the rest of my life. If it's from another language I'll probably get a pretentious tattoo of it.

I finally live according to that dictum now, but it took me 37 years to get to that place.

Facebook itself is brilliant testament to that. They entered an insanely crowded marketplace, with many leaders way way ahead of them. The were as late as late could be to create a "Social Network". It would be like showing up to a potluck at 2AM with a tray full of appetizers.

And then they mowed everybody down.

Appetizers tend to be good snack food, and by 2 AM most people are hungry again and need something to sober up with... so actually your analogy works better than you probably intended.

So if its 2am and you're holding a tray full of appetizers, show up any way? (Next best thing, after all.)

Absolutely

Optimum tempus plantandi arborem annos XX, proximus ad presens tempus.

You might have more luck than google translater, but at least it sounds right.

Is there some hidden meaning to '20 years ago', am I missing something?

Many varieties of trees take a couple decades to grow into something that adds a lot to the landscape.