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eBay, Yahoo!, Amazon, Craigs List, are all examples of first movers in their particular markets. In general, I mean "second mover" more generically. I.e. what

by eladgil 14y ago

eBay, Yahoo!, Amazon, Craigs List, are all examples of first movers in their particular markets. In general, I mean "second mover" more generically. I.e. what do you do if someone already has a strong or growing market position? How can you beat them?

wtvanhest 14y ago
eBay - maybe this one, but there was other eCommerce before them. Yahoo! - Definitely not the first search engine, also not a "winner". See Wandex. Craig's List - It may have been first, but it is unlikely it was the first "online classifieds" since it wasn't started unti l998. (I believe 1995 he started an email distribution though). The point is, for every company that is a first mover that we know of, there were usually lots of others started before it that failed. There are a number of academic papers on the subject, one was called something like "First mover disadvantage".
- acgourley 14y ago
  I think you guys only disagree on what constitutes a first mover. You consider a company who has simply launched as a mover. Although he doesn't explicitly say it, I believe Elad only does so if the company has real traction. Actually your definition of a first mover isn't useful, as very few companies would fit it.
  - eladgil 14y ago
    Agreed. I am implicitly implying a lack of strong incumbents and a degree of real traction rather then "has anyone ever tried anything remotely similar".
    - wtvanhest 14y ago
      You guys make good points and you changed my mind. I think you guys took the more logical route on this than I.
- eladgil 14y ago
  Yahoo! was definitely the first (or amongst the very very first) directories/portals. Directories worked just fine when there weren't a lot of links. That is why for a while, search was viewed as an add-on to portals versus a primary service. eBay was the first online second hand marketplace of any reach AFAIK. I think defining "first mover" becomes a semantic argument at some point. I think Yahoo!, eBay, Amazon, and Craigs List were in situations where there were no strong incumbents and were the first to grow to any scale and that is the key point. The question this post tried to address is "What if there is an incumbent or strongly growing competitor? What can you do?" I definitely agree that the saying "pioneers are often the ones with arrows sticking out of their backs" so am by no means arguing being first is the same thing as winning.
kawera 14y ago
Compubooks was an online bookstore way before Amazon's launch. First they sold through BBSs, then on Compuserve and later on the web but didn't resist Amazon's price pressure and folded during the first bubble. I got several books from then and, If I remember correctly, they were based in Texas.

by eladgil 14y ago

wtvanhest 14y ago

eBay - maybe this one, but there was other eCommerce before them. Yahoo! - Definitely not the first search engine, also not a "winner". See Wandex. Craig's List - It may have been first, but it is unlikely it was the first "online classifieds" since it wasn't started unti l998. (I believe 1995 he started an email distribution though). The point is, for every company that is a first mover that we know of, there were usually lots of others started before it that failed. There are a number of academic papers on the subject, one was called something like "First mover disadvantage".

acgourley 14y ago
I think you guys only disagree on what constitutes a first mover. You consider a company who has simply launched as a mover. Although he doesn't explicitly say it, I believe Elad only does so if the company has real traction. Actually your definition of a first mover isn't useful, as very few companies would fit it.
- eladgil 14y ago
  Agreed. I am implicitly implying a lack of strong incumbents and a degree of real traction rather then "has anyone ever tried anything remotely similar".
  - wtvanhest 14y ago
    You guys make good points and you changed my mind. I think you guys took the more logical route on this than I.
eladgil 14y ago
Yahoo! was definitely the first (or amongst the very very first) directories/portals. Directories worked just fine when there weren't a lot of links. That is why for a while, search was viewed as an add-on to portals versus a primary service. eBay was the first online second hand marketplace of any reach AFAIK. I think defining "first mover" becomes a semantic argument at some point. I think Yahoo!, eBay, Amazon, and Craigs List were in situations where there were no strong incumbents and were the first to grow to any scale and that is the key point. The question this post tried to address is "What if there is an incumbent or strongly growing competitor? What can you do?" I definitely agree that the saying "pioneers are often the ones with arrows sticking out of their backs" so am by no means arguing being first is the same thing as winning.

kawera 14y ago

Compubooks was an online bookstore way before Amazon's launch. First they sold through BBSs, then on Compuserve and later on the web but didn't resist Amazon's price pressure and folded during the first bubble. I got several books from then and, If I remember correctly, they were based in Texas.