Start first, and don't let anyone pass you.

On Monday, I wrote that it's more important to be first than to have the best-designed product out there.  It was a controversial stand to take, and, as I hoped, a couple others wrote in to share their view on the subject.

Since they make really good points, I want to make sure that everyone else reads what they have to say. (Bold emphasis is mine)

Surinder, from ResearchTalk writes:

Really?

- Many people think Volvo created the airbag, but in fact Audi did.

- Google was late to the search game (and yet has grown faster than any company in history).

I think it takes a combination of first mover advantage as you suggest, but also continuous innovation to meet an audacious goal (everyone, but Google thought Alta Vista was a good as search could get), and effective marketing (Volvo persuaded the world they were synonymous with safety).

If an initial innovation is crap, you need to earn the right to have someone spend the time to revisit a later version. The early version of the LastMinute.com website was poor, but it was novel enough that people kept returning, during which time they improved it sufficiently. Google Reader went through a similar experience.

If you release early and don't innovate, you can soon be as good as dead - look at the performance of Friendster, Friends Reunited and Facebook.

As Phil Darby from The Full Blog, explained further:

The business world is littered with businesses who failed to leverage ideas that others later made "their own".  Microsoft aren't pioneers for instance, but have achieved omnipotence by putting their resources behind ideas that others have come up with, but have failed to exploit.

Those are both very smart observations.  In the long run, it is not enough to be first to market. 

You have to be able to maintain a competitive advantage by continuing to innovate and staying on top of the competition.

The facts are:

• Any company that forgets or neglects the need for continuous innovation is choosing to be vulnerable.
  
• In the same sense, any company that goes to market with a flawed or unfinished offering is also choosing to be vulnerable.

So, being first to market is obviously not a free pass to instant success.  You do need to have a quality offering that people actually want.  And you can't just sit back and relax once you have gotten their interest - because there will always be someone else right behind you.

However, if you can successfully achieve first mover advantage and get the name recognition, you are in a stronger position to maintain your status as the market leader.

That's why I say it's more important to be first than perfect.

Comments

[noah kagan]

katie,

tried to email you back but it bounced. anyways, thanks for the comment!