#0040 - The road barely taken
Many of you might have come across the famous poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. It is an amazingly inspiring, profound poem that talks about creating your own path.
But is it worth venturing out into a new path, if you’re the first one ever? Does clearing the weeds & paving a new way always lead you to something better?
Let’s dive in & look at what happens when businesses are the first to do something. In business circles, this idea of being first to market is referred to as first-mover advantage. The thinking is that if you can get a new concept out before anyone else, you’ll be able to build a brand and a following while everyone else is asleep at the wheel. By the time competitors enter the picture, you’ll have a huge head start.
There’s something intuitive about this, and it is not hard to find examples. In the late ’70s, Sony unveiled the Walkman & dominated the market all the way until the iPod. Intel has consistently dominated the microprocessor market since 1971.
But, with a growing body of contemporary examples, I’d argue that the first-mover advantage is actually becoming more of a liability.
Companies that are starting out later seem to become much more pervasive. Google was the umpteenth search engine to be launched and yet found great success. Similarly Facebook, which was just in a few colleges, completely overtook every other Social Medium that had millions of users .
Fast followers
Looks like it’s not who’s first to market but who’s best to market. In fact, in the recent examples from fields where technology changes fast, second- or nth- movers actually enjoy some serious advantages like…
Verifying market interest
Finding the right ingredients for success &
Thinking beyond just the technology
… that help them go onto build something better than the first-mover.
Don’t get me wrong. Timing is important. If you’ve got a brilliant idea, and others around you are making headway, by all means get your product to market. Sometimes technological and cultural conditions evolve and, suddenly, an idea like 24*7 live streaming video or even fidget spinners makes a lot of sense, and lots of people start chasing it.
But don’t be discouraged if you’re not the first on the scene. Research backs this up. For startups entering new markets, first movers are six times as likely to fail as “fast followers” — companies who get in on the ground floor, but aren’t necessarily pioneers. After all, being first to market usually comes down to a stroke of luck. It’s the ability to win over customers and keep them coming back over the long haul that’s going to build a business in the long run.
Cheers,
Kalaikovan