Product success is not a pure meritocracy of features and performance. History is full of technically superior systems losing to “good-enough” rivals that arrived with the right timing, licensing, and ecosystem. The classic pattern involves one solution offering higher picture quality, speed, or precision, while a competitor matches everyday needs better with longer recording times, broader manufacturer support, or faster alignment with how people actually use the category. Once more households, retailers, and content producers backed the simpler option, network effects locked in its lead.

Timing and luck enter through these feedback loops. A product that launches slightly later but aligns tightly with emergent behaviours, price expectations, or distribution channels can overtake an earlier, superior design. Conversely, being first with an immature proposition can sour early adopters and create a reputational drag that later improvements cannot easily erase. For strategy, this suggests two cautions: do not assume first-mover advantage will save a weak value proposition, and do not assume that building the “best” solution in isolation will win without attention to when and how it collides with market reality.

Links: Visibility precedes recommendation, Recommendations matter more than marketing spend