article thumbnail

Microsoft’s Bid to Make Outlook More than Email

Harvard Business Review

Apple’s iPod started as a music-playing device, until it developed the iTunes music store and App Store to connect content providers and app develops to iPod users. Many successful platforms today have experienced this product-to-platform transition.

article thumbnail

What U.S. E-Commerce Can Learn from Its Global Copycats

Harvard Business Review

We were unable to capitalize on first mover advantage. But first mover advantage is a simplistic tenet of global strategy. With limited purchasing power, low credit card usage, and poor delivery networks, it''s clear that the approach for e-commerce in developing markets has to be different than in the U.S.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

When to Change a Winning Strategy

Harvard Business Review

In our research on the telecom industry, for example, we found that the great majority of the executives we surveyed preferred internal development to external sourcing when they needed to develop differentiated products and services. Companies tend to repeat what has worked for them in the past.

article thumbnail

It's Time to Cut Back on Social Media

Harvard Business Review

Clearly there is a first mover advantage in some cases: Chris Brogan developed a passionate following as an early blogger, and Guy Kawasaki jumped onboard Twitter and became a powerhouse there. But as I advise my clients to do, I believe everyone needs to think about which platforms best speak to your strengths.

Media 10
article thumbnail

Five Myths of a CEO's First 100 Days

Harvard Business Review

Because he initially concentrated on assembling a strong team and personally communicating with them, he was able to develop a firm launch-pad for a variety of initiatives aimed at transforming the company. One CEO, for example, excelled at communicating to small groups, delegating and team-building.

CEO 14
article thumbnail

NewTV Is the Antithesis of a Lean Startup. Can It Work?

Harvard Business Review

The mantra of “ first-mover advantage ,” the idea that winners are the ones who are the first entrants in their markets, became the conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley. Startups now had tools that sped up the search for customers, reduced time to market, and slashed the cost of development.

IPO 8
article thumbnail

Strategic Choices Need to Be Made Simultaneously, Not Sequentially

Harvard Business Review

The CEO of a large Australian company called me to relay a particular strategy development problem his firm was facing, and ask for my advice. It turned out that Uber’s How to Win had a lot to do with building a first-mover advantage in markets like the U.S.; But it didn’t work in the Where to Play of China.