Smart Mover Dumb Mover By Jason Spears Smart

Smart Mover, Dumb Mover By: Jason Spears

Smart Mover, Dumb Mover Ø “Think the first mover advantage is a myth? You’re wrong: Most pioneering dot-coms failed not because they were first but because they were dumb. ” Ø What companies should learn from the internet debacle is not that being first is a dangerous decision, but that being dumb seldom succeeds

3 Ways To Be A Dumb Mover Ø Dumb: Getting your timing wrong § If a company invests faster than it learns, it will over-drive the opportunity and end up with an expensive embarrassing failure. Ø Dumber: Overpaying for market share § The idea of capturing a first mover advantage often produces a spending orgy among a lot of look alike competitors. Each company has the intent on ramping up faster than its rivals. Ø Dumbest: Being first with a business model that’s DOA (dead on arrival) § Many business models are brain dead from the get-go. They breathe as long as they are hooked up to the ventilator of investor funds but expire the moment investors swallow their grief and pull the plug.

Key Points Ø The goal is not to be first to market some absolute sense, but to be first to put together the precise combination of features, value, and sound business economics that unlocks a profitable new market. Ø Sometimes the company that does this is the first mover, and sometimes it is not. But it’s always the smart mover.