Why the Best-Selling Products are Usually Runaway Successes
In a speech delivered to the annual Business of Software conference, Joel Spolsky discusses the differences between the best-selling products and their nearest competitors, focusing on the battle between the Apple iPod and Microsoft Zune. He asserts that there is nearly always a huge gap between the top product and the runner-up.
Why is there a gap?
That answer, Spolsky said, is hard to ascertain. In many ways, the Microsoft Zune was a superior product when compared to the iPod. Yet in terms of sales, the Zune is infinitely inferior.
In Hollywood, there is usually one super-couple. At the time of this video, that was Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Trying to deduce what makes them so special and superior is simply a fruitless endeavor. They just are.
Often times, the differences that make something the top product, versus the second-place product, are largely unknown. But for whatever reason, everybody recognizes one product to be better than the other.
OpenView developed the Product Led Growth Market Map to illustrate the breadth and dynamism of this powerful growth strategy. View the Market Map here.