Doing It Right, Not First by Andrew Dumont

There’s a common misconception among first time entrepreneurs that the only way to win is to be the first. The first to attempt an idea, the first to enter a specific market. It’s something I’ve been meaning to touch on for some time, then this came across my feed.

“You don’t have to do it first, you just have to do it right.” – Jack Dorsey

Elegantly said. Too many put an emphasis on being the first to think of an idea. So much so that they never actually create anything, they just keep trying to think of an idea that doesn’t yet exist. The most iconic companies in the world weren’t the first, they were simply the best. MySpace beat Facebook to the punch, HP hit the market before Apple, PicPlz existed before Instagram.

It didn’t matter. They succeeded because they did it right.

‘Doing it right’ can mean a lot of different things, but I think the most common theme these days is simplicity. Taking a poor user experience, over-zealous feature set or complex interface and dumping it down is often a safe bet. We need simplicity. This is how Jack’s Square is blowing dated cash registers out of the water, and it’s how we’re attempting to shake up the CRM market with Stride. If we were concerned about being first, we sure wouldn’t have attempted to enter that space. We knew we could compete on user experience and simplicity, so we did.

Ideas are a dime a dozen, and you’ll likely never be the first person to think of them. Worry about executing, not being first.

Next time someone says, “doesn’t so and so already do that?” to your fledgling start up idea. Tell them, “yeah, so what? I’ll do it better.”

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This post first appeared on Andrew Dumont.

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Ali Campbell is one of the world's leading life coaches and NLP'ers. He has built an enviable reputation as a highly motivational Coach, Therapist, Author and Presenter. Ali is the creator of the internationally acclaimed weight loss solution, The Slim Girls Box Of Secrets sold in over 44 countries and any internationally bestselling author with Just Get On With It - A caring compassionate kick up the ass published last year by Hay House even outselling the Dali Lama. As a trusted advisor to celebrities, business leaders and even royalty around the world. in the UK Ali is widely featured in the media, on television, radio and in print. With expertise gained right at the cutting edge of personal development Ali's no nonsense 'arm round your shoulder and a kick up the butt' style makes him truly unique in a field often dominated by more spin than substance.
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