Being First Isn’t Always Best
Yes, being first has its advantages, but even though the first are often lauded for their vision, tenacity, and general genius (if it’s a big idea), being first isn’t always best. Want to know why? It’s expensive!
Being first often requires that you are spending your money, resources and time learning all the hard lessons. It’s like the proverbial field, if you’re the farmer on virgin soil you’re going to have to work hard to get it ready for planting. Imagine you are out there toiling away, and then someone comes along after all that sweat - and tears - and just pops their seeds in a corner of your beautifully tilled field. And imagine if they have better seeds!
So, while you might have this deep-seated desire to do something first, remember not everyone is gifted at seeing the ‘first thing’, but you might be kick-butt at making the first thing the better thing. Like planting better seeds. As an aside, if you think you have a ‘first-to-market’ idea, do some research to see if it is patentable. Always a good idea to protect your idea.
Many moons ago, one of my clients - a very well-known advertising guru - invited me and a few others to a chat with media guru Robert Pittman who helped create MTV. His presentation was on the journey AOL Networks (remember them!) took to become the largest online service, etc. He cited several others that had gone first, but the group that become AOL just learned from them and did it better. Meanwhile, where is AOL today? Obsolescence can happen to even the biggest players.
Also, when you do it first with all the speed there is in the marketplace these days, you need to be ready to keep making it better, or someone will overtake you - in a nano second.
This is not to say you shouldn’t pursue an idea if you think it’s first; don’t let the potential pitfalls stop you, just be wary.
Remember, if you’re first your concept is probably going to be expensive.
If you raise money you will have to give a nice chunk away - investors want to make sure it’s worth it for them to hand over the cash. If you’re first, you probably need to be thinking about the 2.0 version - and beyond - even before you launch. And do your best to make it rip-off proof, though that’s darned hard, and expensive.
But here’s something to also keep in mind. If you’ve got the best idea ever and you see that someone else has beaten you to it, don’t despair. Think about how you can either make it even better or carve out a piece of it that you can make perfect.
There are often so many layers to a great idea;
Find the best one for you! Ok, don’t share your big idea here, but love to hear if anything I said resonated with you. I’m in the early stages of starting something new myself, and I am seriously taking all the above into consideration!