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

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.