Speed Freaks

In the Old West, a faster draw saved your life. But nowadays, it's not so much who's the fastest, as who's first that's important, says Regis McKenna, author of Real Time: Preparing for the Age of the Never Satisfied Customer (Harvard Business School Press). If you're entering a new market, tackling new technology or trying to woo an untapped demographic, being the first one to cross the finish line is a tremendous advantage because, says McKenna, you'll have "a learning momentum and a cultural momentum."

Both McKenna and Biggers give the ubiquitous example of Amazon.com. When the book-hawking Web site first appeared on the scene, everybody, says Biggers, thought they were going to be "Amazon.toast." But by the time the mammoth Barnes & Noble managed to get online, Amazon.com was already a household name among online book buyers.

That said, Amazon.com knew what it was doing when it set up shop, and that's important. "Don't let the need to move faster cause you to jeopardize the integrity of the process you use to build the business," warns Shuman.

In other words, get your product or service right, but don't wait for the paint to dry. "The most successful company is one that has gotten something up quickly and then refined it," argues Lorne Olfman, director of the school of information science at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. "Microsoft has made all kinds of money by releasing version after version of [Windows]."

Indeed, many laundry detergents and household goods arrive in stores, triumphantly announcing "New and Improved!" The same plan is being utilized at Claremont Graduate University, says Olfman. It is one of a growing number of universities offering a major in e-commerce. Is the present major perfect? No. Will it get better? You bet.

This article was originally published in the September 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Speed Freaks.