The Victory of the Visionary

November 5th, 2008 by Peter Glaeser | RSS feed for comments on this post | TrackBack URI

I usually try not to write about politics but I see a lot of similarities between the current Presidential election and the online industry. Obama promised change, McCain promised conservation. Four years ago Obama would have lost big time. Back then people were extremely concerned about the protection of the country and the convervation of the past.

But this time McCains “country first” campaign failed. Even though the world is undergoing a serious financial crisis the majority of Americans wanted to make a move towards the future rather than the past. It took the American people eight years to realize that they were being fooled by an old-boys club that was looking after its own profit. But finally they understood what was going on and made their choice very clearly.

So what do we learn from all this about the online industry? Well, I learned that timing is everything. Obama would have failed miserably with his current agenda four years ago. This year he was the right man at the right time. On the other hand, McCain would have won the elections four years ago. People were in a quite protectionist mood back then. But today he lost because he was promoting an outdated product (”country first”).

The bottom line is: If you’re entering the market with a new product, make sure that you’re doing it at the right time. Do not be too early so that nobody knows what you’re talking about. And don’t try to start something that is outdated either.