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Entrepreneur Myth #6: You Must Be First to Market
When I was younger, I thought that being first to market was one of the most important considerations of any venture. I’ve learned and experienced otherwise. Listen, you’re gonna have ten people come up with a similar idea. Out of those ten people, five are not going to do shit. They’re gonna sit on their ass, pontificate, and instead of doing something about their idea, they’re gonna be busy partying or watching TV or thinking of all kinds of fucking excuses why they can’t do it.
Out of the five people left, three of them are going to attempt to do it but because of their lack of knowledge, ambition or inability to finance it, they’re going to put their tails between their legs and just fucking quit.
Now, there are only two entrepreneurs left. It’s gonna be between you and some ambitious bastard to duke it out in the marketplace. Good luck. Take no prisoners.
If you’re not out into the market first, please don’t panic. Yes, one key consideration is who’s going to bring the product into the market first, but more important is who will stick with it the longest. You have to stay in the game long enough to determine whether you can win or not.
Even if you’re not the first, the most important consideration is how you differentiate yourself from the competition. Nature has millions of species. The survival of each species depends on their differentiation and where they fit in the entire ecosystem. The same thing applies for your venture.
Entrepreneurship is more like running a marathon than a 100-yard dash. Yes, being first can have its advantages and the significance of being first will depend on the sector or market application. But don’t forget that consumer needs or acceptance can change rapidly. Sometimes being first is not optimal because you may not have the right vision, or the vision might be blurry, or the customer needs to be educated, or you don’t have enough capital to work out the kinks or you don’t have an experienced enough management team to deal with the uncertainty of the new market.
You might be just too early. I’ve been part of startups where we were just too early. The market was just not ready for the product, or the economic conditions changed to where the market might have been ready for it, yet could not afford it.
1. What are some of the entrepreneur myths you’ve learned being an entrepreneur?
2. How do you put yourself in the idea generation mode? Do you do it alone or do you generate ideas with your friends, partners or employees?
3. How important is being first to market for you and your sector? How does differentiation play out for your product or service?
4. Have you ever failed due to being too early? How? What happened?
Entrepreneur Myth #7: Education is critical to being a successful e...
SUBSCRIBE to the PODCAST: Entrepreneur Myths on iTunes
Out of the five people left, three of them are going to attempt to do it but because of their lack of knowledge, ambition or inability to finance it, they’re going to put their tails between their legs and just fucking quit.
Now, there are only two entrepreneurs left. It’s gonna be between you and some ambitious bastard to duke it out in the marketplace. Good luck. Take no prisoners.
If you’re not out into the market first, please don’t panic. Yes, one key consideration is who’s going to bring the product into the market first, but more important is who will stick with it the longest. You have to stay in the game long enough to determine whether you can win or not.
Even if you’re not the first, the most important consideration is how you differentiate yourself from the competition. Nature has millions of species. The survival of each species depends on their differentiation and where they fit in the entire ecosystem. The same thing applies for your venture.
Entrepreneurship is more like running a marathon than a 100-yard dash. Yes, being first can have its advantages and the significance of being first will depend on the sector or market application. But don’t forget that consumer needs or acceptance can change rapidly. Sometimes being first is not optimal because you may not have the right vision, or the vision might be blurry, or the customer needs to be educated, or you don’t have enough capital to work out the kinks or you don’t have an experienced enough management team to deal with the uncertainty of the new market.
You might be just too early. I’ve been part of startups where we were just too early. The market was just not ready for the product, or the economic conditions changed to where the market might have been ready for it, yet could not afford it.
1. What are some of the entrepreneur myths you’ve learned being an entrepreneur?
2. How do you put yourself in the idea generation mode? Do you do it alone or do you generate ideas with your friends, partners or employees?
3. How important is being first to market for you and your sector? How does differentiation play out for your product or service?
4. Have you ever failed due to being too early? How? What happened?
Entrepreneur Myth #7: Education is critical to being a successful e...
SUBSCRIBE to the PODCAST: Entrepreneur Myths on iTunes
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