“Being Fustest with the Mostest.”
“First with the most” was the expression used by a Confederate general to describe his cavalry unit’s consistent victories in the Civil War. In business, it describes the strategy in which an innovator looks to attain leadership, if not outright dominance. This is the entrepreneurial strategy with the potentially highest rewards; but it’s also the most risky one. There can be no mistakes or second chances. The outcome is either market and industry leadership or nothing at all. Entrepreneurs must be right the first time; otherwise, they fail. For every innovator that succeeds with this strategy, dozens fail. Yet if the “first with the most” strategy succeeds, the innovator reaps tremendous rewards. It’s the strategy that underlies the success and market leadership of such giants as 3M, Procter & Gamble, Intel, and Microsoft.
Yet there is a special risk to this strategy: to achieve initial success, then to be outflanked by someone practicing the next entrepreneurial strategy, “hitting them where they aren’t.” For example, the two young engineers who started the Apple computer company in the proverbial garage, without financial backers or previous business experience, aimed from the beginning at creating an industry and dominating it. But they were soon outflanked by IBM.
ACTION POINT: When you develop a new product, process, or service, remember, protect your flank.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial Strategies (Corpedia Online Program)
* Source: The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker