> The market doesn't go who gets done first, it goes to the person who dos it best.
Except when it goes to the first movers. If your product's success depends on a virtual land grab, it might be better to work those 100's of less productive hours, to get something out the door first.
The first mover advantage is actually quite rare, though. For example, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook were not the first companies in their domain. First movers only have the advantage when you have strong network effects and strong lock-in.
Sure; I'd rather lose the landgrab, get 10% of the market so I can then steal it back with a more quality product in the end. It depends on your goals, if you goal is make a sustainable business that will be around for a long time, its best to think of the long term, which is almost never won by the landgrabber.
The smartphone market is characterised by a 2 year upgrade cycle, it is a lot harder for a company to generate long term loyalty when the consumer is fairly free to pick whichever phone they want after a contract.
Apple also move the market with a mostly new class of phone which changed people's expectations. Which is generally a way to beat a land grabber.
Except when it goes to the first movers. If your product's success depends on a virtual land grab, it might be better to work those 100's of less productive hours, to get something out the door first.