The Followers Can Sometimes Lead the Way

In a previous post, I lamented the birth of Google+. I mean that’s all the world needs is another social network. But a recent interview of Esther Dyson by TechCrunch points out something very important about this: Google is a follower.

In any industry, there are two types of companies. Those that pave the way and those that follow. In some cases, the company that gets out first stays out first. But more often than not, the companies that follow often overtake and eventually bury those origina...