What are the pros and cons of being a first-mover?

A first-mover advantage comes from introducing a new product, service, process, or entering a new market ahead the competition ...

There are a number of potential advantages the come from being a first mover ...

1. The ability to create and protect intellectual property
2. The ability to create a standard and rules of play
3. The ability to capture a market share majority
4. The ability to become the low cost leader
5. The ability to tie up strategic resources
6. Increased switching costs for customers
7. Increased switching costs for producers

However, there are a number of potential disadvantages, too ...

1. Higher development costs
2. First to make mistakes from which the competition can benefit
3. Higher development and entry expenses
4. Intellectual property can be circumvented
5. Higher resource expenses
6. Higher risk of missing the product, service, or process expectations of the customer
7. Customers are reluctant to buy when a large switching cost may be incurred

While first-movers are often industry leaders, there are certainly many examples where the "followers" have upstaged their "teachers" ... Google, for example, was not the first-mover when it comes to search engines!