First to market: Five sites and services that took an early lead on the Web and still dominate today

Ian Lamont — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:40:59 -0700

Many Web startups have learned that simply coming up with a great idea or developing a slick product is no guarantee of success. A site or service that hopes to achieve long-term viability needs a sound business plan, talented staff, and management smarts.

But the giants of the Web world have learned that dominance comes through a number of additional factors, including:

Appealing to a broad set of users or customers
Making a product that is massively scalable
Taking an early lead in the marketplace
Keeping ahead of the competition through constant innovation and strategy

In the following special feature, David Cotriss (author of The Industry Standard's Where Are They Now? column) examined five early entrant websites and services that have grown and prospered, even through the aftermath of the first Internet bubble and the rise of the Web 2.0 world. All have garnered tens or even hundreds of millions of users, or have become billion-dollar businesses. They include Yahoo Mail, AOL Instant Messenger, eBay, PayPal, and VeriSign. Using interviews and other research, Cotriss unearthed some of the secrets and little-known facts that helped the companies identify opportunities and attract huge numbers of users and customers at a very early stage -- and maintain their market dominance over many years, despite a constantly shifting competitive landscape. Click on the headlines below to read their stories: