> The basic issue in marketing is creating a category you can be first in.
This sounds good on paper, but is pretty much impossible to identify objectively in practice. Something can be "first" along many dimensions, so this depends entirely on how you categorize "first". First what? First productivity software, first document editor, or first document editor to offer WYSIWYG functionality? The only thing that really matters is being the first to offer a product that satisfies a customers needs on some dimension in a meaningful enough way for them to pay you money for it.
This sounds good on paper, but is pretty much impossible to identify objectively in practice. Something can be "first" along many dimensions, so this depends entirely on how you categorize "first". First what? First productivity software, first document editor, or first document editor to offer WYSIWYG functionality? The only thing that really matters is being the first to offer a product that satisfies a customers needs on some dimension in a meaningful enough way for them to pay you money for it.