[ashu]

2. Be first in some area (too late now)

I don't think that will be true. Ever. You can always innovate.There are always new things to do. Or old things to do in new ways. Or so says the idealist in me.

But your other points are really good, especially the marketing one. Just making a very solid app isn't good enough for the iPhone platform. You need a carefully thought out marketing strategy.

Edit: I guess the marketing part is true about everything you do.

[pchristensen]

I agree with the disagreement. Google was late to search, the iPod was late to mp3 players, the iPhone was late to smart phones, YC was late to investing, etc, etc, etc.

[DenisM]

There is limited amount of things which people look at for 1 second and say "oh, I get it". Most of these things are likely already represented. Things that require 5 seconds until the "I get it" moment will require some incentive to spend those 5 seconds - either sky-high ratings, friends advising, known brand etc.

[ashu]

True. Until somebody comes up with something and you go "Doh, how come I did not think of that?!" or "Man, that was just genius..."

[Tichy]

Yes, but the talk here was about a crosswords application, not a strike of genius.

[bootload]

"... There is limited amount of things which people look at for 1 second and say 'oh, I get it' ..."

You are not taking into account new technology and the way it disrupts the market. The technology leaps come in spurts so it is more a case of waiting for the next wave, iterating while you do so.

[Tichy]

Of course you can still create an iPhone app that becomes a success. But I imagine on the first they, people were kind of hungry to try the new app store and their new iPhones. They would have bought just about anything (wasn't "Flashlight" in the top 10?). Once they have bought two or three games, how many more will they buy? So coming out with a cool game a couple of months later is a huge disadvantage.