First Mover Advantage

Questions

What is First Mover Advantage?

First Mover Advantage is the edge gained by being first into a new market: early customers, scarce resources, standards set on your terms, and sometimes your name becoming the name of the whole category.

How do you use First Mover Advantage?

But being first is only the opening move, and followers learn from your mistakes for free. Before rushing in, ask whether your lead can be locked in through habits, networks or scarce assets, or whether you would simply be paying more to go first.

When does First Mover Advantage matter?

First Mover Advantage is one of the 56 mental models for strategy, the situations where you ask: How do I win when others want the same thing? Within that, it belongs to “How markets grow and tip”, alongside Crossing the Chasm, Flywheel and Long Tail.

What is an example of First Mover Advantage?

Two stories show it at work: Vasco da Gama reaches India (1498) and ChatGPT (2022). Both are told in full in The Mental Models Daily Almanac, which has two stories for each of its 365 models.

Which mental models are related to First Mover Advantage?

Winner Takes Most Markets, Red Queen Effect and Winner’s Curse. First Mover Advantage itself comes from economics.