Quote of the day by Peter Thiel: 'First mover advantage is a trap, it's much better to be the last mover'

Quote of the day by Peter Thiel. PayPal founder Peter Thiel contradicted the well-known business lesson that being the first mover in a sector has its own advantage and suggested that it is highly overrated and a trap. Because first-movers can become unseated by a new entrant and he supported his theory by citing how Microsoft remained the last operating system for a long time, Google the last search engine for a long time and neither first mover. Thiel presented this idea on several occasions: in his speeches and books, and said, 'First mover advantage is a trap; it's much better to be the last mover'. While starting early might generate temporary buzz, it rarely creates lasting value, he believes. What actually matters in business is not who enters the arena first, but who stays there last. In Thiel's view, the ultimate goal of any ambitious startup is not to be a pioneer, but to become the last mover in its category -- the company that makes the final major breakthrough and secures an unassailable monopoly for decades to come.What is first-mover advantage?The conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley has long celebrated the first-mover advantage. Business schools and startup incubat...