Seeking Deep Latecomer Advantage

There's a famous trope for a B-school 'innovation' module slide.

A table where every row represents a specific sector. With two columns for each; one for market-maker, the other for second-in.

Discussion revolves around where the long-term advantage lies.

For each case, the follower became the Number One.

You can play a type of modern-day parlour game. Pick an industry. Who is currently dominant? The first mover or a fast follower...

For instance, I came across this the other day, from 1993 research.

There's plenty of such data about.

I know what it's like to be first selling something new enough to require a tricky mental shift in target market thinking.

You're not just branding yourself, but a whole new way of doing something.

That someone else invariably nips in on its coat-tails and leapfrogs you in some way is inevitable.

As economists would say, the sparkle of your 'supernormal' profits, actual or expected, create a rush to grab a piece.

We're seeing this right now in the world of AI.

Pioneers jolted by an upstart. The gigantic established potentially up-ended by the tiny fresh entrant.

DeepSeek claiming to have the same foundations for a fraction of the cost as all the now household Big Tech chatbot names.

It may turn out that this challenger stays in the same-but-cheaper lane.

Being a copycat at lower price is a strategy, after all; cost leadership.

Yet that's not a solution sell angle.

Our arena doesn't much reward those that just copy the good bits of what's already there for a lesser price tag.

Real joy flows from when you improve what can be done.

I've read with approval recently about 'reverse benchmarking'.

Measuring yourself against competition in a like-for-like manner is dangerously misleading.

You confine yourself to their terms.

How about thinking what these - often very good - competitors do, but not quite so well. To the extent that they might go unaddressed.

That's the scape you have to scope around.

Reminiscent too for me of survivor bias. Leading to the fallacy of focussing on that which can be easily first seen.

As DeepSeek might find, cost is but one marker alone.

Are you thinking of all the other levers in your space?