‘First to Market’ is Overrated

A lot of companies that feel like they must be ‘first to market’. There is a belief that if you’re not the first and biggest in a market right away, you won’t be successful. If anything, history shows that the first mover and land grabbers always loses to the ‘first innovator’. Consider the following:

-Apple did not invent the cell phone, Motorola did in 1973. The iPhone didn’t come out until 2007.

-Facebook was not the first social media site, Six Degrees was in 1997. Facebook didn’t launch until 2004.

-Ebay was not the first online auction site. By the time they entered the market, there were over 150 online auction sites, the largest of which was public and backed by Kleiner Perkins.

-Google was not the first search engine, rather ‘Archie’ was in 1990. Google wasn’t formally incorporated until 1998.

-When Compaq released their “portable” PC (laptop), there were at least 15 other offerings at the time, but theirs was the first to run software built for IBM.

-When FanDuel launched, there were 100+ look-alike fantasy competitors.

The most dominant companies in their respective industries weren’t the first to the market, but rather they were the first to truly innovate an already existing product that could use improvement.

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