Timing Is Money

From the book

Timing stories.

Products from Timing Is Money — each a lesson in why the same idea wins or loses depending entirely on when it arrives.

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Timing, in motion.

Timing Comes From Knowing 3rd Order Consequences

The Diffusion of Innovations Summary

16 have full write-ups here; the rest are chapters in the book.

Wait for the enablers

The iPhone

Apple iPhone · 2007

Why 2007 was precisely the right moment for the smartphone.

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Move before the wave

The Netflix Pivot

Netflix streaming · 2007

Reed Hastings bet on streaming while it barely worked.

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Time a new segment

The Nintendo Wii

Nintendo Wii · 2006

Winning by refusing to play the spec race.

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Not “no” — “not yet”

The Tesla Model S

Tesla Model S · 2012

The luxury EV that arrived when the EV1 couldn’t.

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The window a crisis opens

The Airbnb Homerun

Airbnb · 2008

How the 2008 recession timed their launch.

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Time the exit

The Instagram Exit

Instagram · 2012

Selling to Facebook at the peak — a tiny team, about $1B.

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Lock in loyalty early

The Amazon Prime Launch

Amazon Prime · 2005

Bezos’ subscription bet before the subscription era.

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Time the culture and the tech

The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Studios · 2008

Serialized superheroes when CGI and appetite aligned.

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Ride a rising appetite

The Harry Potter Phenomenon

Harry Potter · 1997

Arriving as young-adult reading was ready to reignite.

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Scale as the habit forms

The Starbucks Expansion

Starbucks · 1990s

National expansion as American coffee culture matured.

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Catch the moment

The Hamilton Musical

Hamilton · 2015

A hip-hop founding-father musical, exactly on time.

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Sell before the storm

The PayPal Escape

PayPal · 2002

Thiel took eBay’s offer before the ground could shift.

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Ride the attention shift

The TikTok Download

TikTok · 2018

Timing the US push to short-form video’s takeoff.

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Return at the inflection

The Apple Resurrection

Apple · 1997

Jobs returned just as Apple needed — and could — be saved.

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Preparation meets the moment

The Peloton Pandemic

Peloton · 2020

Years of build, then a shock pulled demand forward.

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The cost of “early”

The Bitcoin Pizza

Bitcoin · 2010

Spending 10,000 BTC on two pizzas.

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