When First Mover Doesn't Help You

An engineer I know was infuriated to find that a software architecture proposal a friend had done several years ago and presented to Microsoft as an enhancement to work done at InterProphet appeared in another company's patent claims - even though he'd presented a similar idea to Microsoft long before. "Well, I guess I can at least go to my grave claiming we did it first" he laments. And as I was there - I can vouch for them. They did it first. This happens occasionally, and we have to ask ourselves "Does being first really matter"?

First mover isn't always best mover if you're dependent on a behemoth like Microsoft. It's when the market is ready - even IBM and Cisco face this problem. The first mover in Cisco's area was Proteon. They had 100% of the router market. Haven't heard of them? Not surprising.

Years ago, one of the Board of Directors of InterProphet requested a technical review of SiliconTCP, and he chose a man who had been involved with Proteon. While he was a very intelligent man, according to the business side he went on to make the same exact biz and technical mistakes analyzing our work as he did with Proteon. Fortunately most of his observations were filed and ignored.

Well, we all get misdirected due diligence on occasion, so that's not my point here. My point is that he made the same mistakes with us after he had talked about all the same mistakes he had made with Proteon and how he had regretted them. And then this smart guy makes exactly the same mistakes again? Sometimes I wonder if smart people ever listen to themselves talk. :-)

But that isn't the real reason why we sometimes don't listen to ourselves and others. The real reason is lack of courage and commitment to the truth in your work and life. The first duty is to the truth. We don't give up and fall into ourselves as a way of avoiding our pain or fear of failure. It is when we are at the crunch of faith in ourselves that our courage is tested. It is when we are convinced that life is a lie and that only cheaters prosper that our duty to the truth is tested.

I remember Cisco when they were still in their garage. They wanted to use 375 boards for routers, but the VP Sales at the time didn't follow up with them - too small, he said. I remember at that time asking why? Really he had no faith he could do the deal himself, so the deal died.

So, being first doesn't always matter. But keeping your word, innovating and exploring, and finally keeping the faith does matter. Oh, and it helps to have a good patent attorney when you need it. :-)