>I always hear that but it should be "Riches to those who do it right". A lot of first comers get killed by second comers.
You are absolutely correct.
Apple didn't have the first MP3 player, but figured out how to do it right.
Henry Ford wasn't the first automaker, but he figured out how to do it better.
Facebook wasn't the first social network, but it figured out how to beat a slew of competitors.
Silicon Valley wonks are always pontificating about "first mover advantage." It's a bunch of bunk from the same people who repeat the same cliches they hear bouncing around their echo chamber.
What I discovered in my years of bouncing around the west coast dot-com industry is that it's 60% used car salesmen/fake-it-till-you-make-it posers, 38% grunts basking in the fictional glow of the dot-com mutual admiration society, 1% genuine leaders, and 1% innovators.
A great example is the Amazon article, which states that LESS THAN 10% of buying is done online. I bet that came as a shock to a lot of people in SV, who imagine that we live in a world where brick-and-mortar is just dust-and-memories.
I assume that 10% figure is either retail or "consumer goods" and doesn't account for things like travel. I imagine something like the inverse for travel. Probably similar for other spaces where shipping isn't involved.
They did it "more right" overall than others. That's all that's needed. I don't think MS was ever first at anything either. But somehow they often managed to do things better than everybody else.
How do you die broke sitting on top of a gold mine? Ask the guy who found the Comstock lode. No, his, or rather their, name, wasn't Comstock. Though he died broke too.
I always hear that but it should be "Riches to those who do it right". A lot of first comers get killed by second comers.