First-Mover Advantage
"The first company to enter a market wins"
Origin: Business strategy literature (1980s-90s)
The Key Insight
The question isn't 'should I move first?' but 'what kind of ecosystem am I entering?' In immature, rapidly evolving markets, being a fast follower often beats being a pioneer. In markets with network effects and lock-in, first-mover advantage can be decisive.
What People Think
Getting there first lets you capture customers, build brand recognition, and establish standards before competitors arrive. Being first is inherently advantageous.
The Deeper Truth
Ecology shows a more nuanced picture through 'pioneer species' dynamics. Pioneers are the first to colonize disturbed environments - they're hardy, fast-growing, and adapted to harsh conditions. But they're often displaced by later-arriving species that are better adapted to the mature ecosystem the pioneers created. First doesn't always mean winner; sometimes it means 'prepared the ground for others.'
Biological Parallel
After a forest fire, pioneer species like fireweed and birch colonize quickly. They stabilize soil, add nitrogen, create shade. But they're eventually outcompeted by slower-growing species like oaks and maples that thrive in the conditions pioneers created. The pioneers succeeded - and then were replaced. Many first-mover advantages in business follow the same pattern.
Business Application
First-mover advantage is real when there are network effects, high switching costs, or scarce resources to lock up. It's weak or negative when the market is still being defined (first movers educate customers for free), when technology is rapidly evolving (later entrants leapfrog), or when the first mover's solution creates the category but doesn't dominate it (Friendster → MySpace → Facebook).
When It Breaks Down
The first-mover advantage fails when: (1) the market is undefined and the first mover bears all education costs, (2) the technology is immature and early bets become technical debt, (3) the first mover optimizes for the wrong things (early market conditions vs. mature market needs), or (4) there's no lock-in mechanism and later entrants can simply copy and improve.