Don’t Fall For the Myth of First-Mover Advantage

First movers make mistakes. And that spells opportunity.

by Rod D. Martin
Inc. Magazine
August 13, 2015

First mover advantage is a myth.

Some disagree. They’re wrong. Or if they aren’t wrong, perhaps we could rephrase my point this way: it is exceedingly difficult for a first mover to keep their advantage.

Either way, this is a key secret to success: never be overawed by the status quo.

Many attribute our success at PayPal to our having been the first mover. But we weren’t the first. We were just the first to do it right.

Leif Erikson is said to have beaten Columbus to America by 500 years. John Cabot made it to North America during the rule of Henry VII, before the Spanish and 110 years before Jamestown.

So what?

Far more interesting is China’s Admiral Zheng He. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, from 1405 to 1433, “The Great Navigator” led daring voyages of exploration throughout the East Indies, along the coast of India, all the way to the Arabian Peninsula and as far as Mombasa and possibly Zanzibar. He commanded 317 ships and 28,000 crewme…