That is also my mindset when I joined the market years ago, but when I witnessed my first block halving and seeing how the price goes up every 4 years. It's obvious that there is no such thing as buying late. It's all on how we look at it, specially if we are going to be for the long haul, then buying anytime despite the current price is a good idea.
I don't think being too late is an excuse for not making this profitable investment. It was not about the time we came here but the amount we invested in Bitcoin. That is why I am tired of hearing people ask about this. If we consider the time we have been here, we are all late already. But this is not how we measure it because as long as the market remains profitable, we still have a chance, even though we just started today that never be considered late.
It is not about who comes first and will earn more, but it is about who buys more bitcoin and earns more.
Moreover, it is not about making 10000x return or anything, it's about investing into the best asset we can find. Which means, "are we too late" is the wrong question to ask to begin with. If you think investing into bitcoin will make you more money than some alternative, then you should be investing into bitcoin, if you think you know a better investment for your money than bitcoin then you should not be investing into bitcoin.
Seriously, investing is as simple as that, there is literally nothing else involved. You have a certain amount of money, or you want to save that much money, and then you want to invest that money, and for investment, you should invest into what you believe is the best investment for you. You might be wrong, but you should have an opinion to do this.