There is an irony about free markets that the collective participates in. On the one hand, we have massive choice in many categories. On the other hand, over time, we have a winner-take-all outcome. Over time, people consolidate and choose the best.
We don’t have all these phones. We have iPhones.
We have Starbucks, Netflix and Salesforce.com.
Early on, there can be many software options and platforms to choose from. Later on, there is an actual, or perceived, best in class.
If you are building services, you may want to opt for the efficient path and go with the winner. Winners enjoy the support of customers and their funding. They have larger ecosystems with partners, plugins, apps, marketing agreements and all the pieces for standardization.
Furthermore, it’s easier to move information, find talent and get things done around the winner’s platform.
On the one hand, “best” is not always necessarily functional or technical. It’s often a business case of inertia. You can push for merit on features of a runner-up technology or offering. However, there’s a lot of waste trying to metaphorically boil the ocean and convince others what product line should be the standard bearer.
There’s also a simplicity to choosing the winner. You don’t have to spend energy on choice. You can simply execute and give people what they want.
If you take a quick audit, there’s likely opportunity and efficiency you can gain by picking the winners so you can use those products, services and platforms to simply get your business done making money and interfacing with customers.
