The Curse of Being Too Early: Why Timing Beats Innovation in Technology Adoption
Back in 2014, we made what seemed like an obvious decision at Concord. We built collaborative contract editing directly into our platform – think Google Docs for contracts. No more emailing Word documents back and forth, no more version control nightmares, no more wondering who made which changes. It was clearly the future.
We were right about the future. We were wrong about the timing.
For three painful years, we watched potential customers get excited about the concept, then quietly return to their Word documents. It wasn't until COVID forced everyone into remote work that collaborative editing suddenly became non-negotiable. By then, we'd already spent years building workarounds and Word integrations we never wanted to create.
This experience taught me a fundamental truth that every business leader needs to understand: Being right about where technology is heading is worthless if you're wrong about when the market will be ready to follow you there.
Here's the uncomfortable reality: Most businesses fail not because they lack innovation, but because they innovate at the wrong time. They build solutions for the market they wish existed rather than the market that actually exists.
I see this pattern everywhere today, especially with AI. Companies are rushing to implement AI-powered everything, assuming their customers are as excited about the technology as they are. But excitement in the C-suite doesn't translate to adoption in the field.
The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) framework that engineers use is only part of the equation. What we really need to consider is what the Department of Energy calls 'Adoption Readiness Levels' – understanding not just whether technology works, but whether the market is ready to embrace it.
When my product teams come to me with innovative ideas, I always ask the same question: 'Are we still going to do this in five years?'
If the answer is yes, the next question becomes: 'But should we do it now?'
This isn't about lacking courage or vision. It's about understanding that successful technology adoption follows predictable patterns. Innovators (2.5% of the market) will try anything new. Early adopters (13.5%) need to see some proof. But the early majority – that crucial 34% that determines whether you have a real business – they need to see others succeeding first.
We learned this the hard way with our contract management software. Building for innovators when your business model requires the early majority is a recipe for burning cash while waiting for the market to catch up.
So how do you innovate without getting too far ahead of your market? We've developed a framework that's served us well:
1. Validate the inevitability, not just the possibility Ask yourself: Is this change truly inevitable, or just technically possible? Collaborative editing was inevitable – the shift to remote work just accelerated it. But not every technical possibility becomes a market reality.
2. Build bridges, not leaps Instead of forcing users to abandon their current workflows entirely, create intermediate steps. We eventually built Word plugins that gave users some collaborative features while keeping them in their comfort zone. It wasn't our ideal solution, but it kept us in the game until the market was ready for the full shift.
3. Watch for behavioral triggers, not technology triggers The technology for collaborative editing existed for years before COVID. What changed wasn't the technology – it was human behavior. Look for the events or shifts that will change how people work, not just what tools are available.
4. Start with one use case, not a revolution When implementing new technology, resist the urge to transform everything at once. Pick one specific problem, solve it completely, and let success build momentum. Our customers who successfully implement contract automation software start with one contract type – usually the one causing the most pain – before expanding.
This framework is particularly relevant as businesses grapple with AI adoption. Yes, AI will transform how we work. No, it won't happen overnight.
Consider contract management. I'm absolutely convinced that in 10 years, AI will handle most contract reviews without human intervention. But today? Most SMBs don't even have their contracts in a central digital location. They need basic digitization before they can leverage advanced AI.
The businesses that will win aren't those with the most advanced AI capabilities. They're the ones who understand where their customers are today and build a path from there to the future.
Here's what most innovators miss: The market doesn't want the most advanced solution. It wants the simplest solution that solves their immediate problem.
At Concord, I probably spend 80% of my time removing features rather than adding them. Every feature you add thinking 'someone might need this' is a barrier to adoption for the 90% who don't. You don't invent simplicity – you craft it through relentless subtraction.
This is especially true when you're introducing new technology. The more revolutionary your underlying tech, the more evolutionary your user experience needs to be.
Being too early is painful. But understanding market timing creates massive opportunities.
Right now, there's a sweet spot in the market. Remote work has normalized digital collaboration. Data privacy regulations have made contract management a C-suite priority. AI has made sophisticated analysis accessible to SMBs. The behavioral triggers have already fired.
Companies that recognize these timing signals – rather than just chasing the latest technology – are the ones capturing market share. They're not necessarily the most innovative. They're the most strategically timed.
Every CEO I know has a story about being too early with something. The successful ones learned from it. They learned that market timing beats technical innovation, that customer behavior changes slowly then suddenly, and that the best technology is worthless if it requires customers to change faster than they're willing to move.
Today, when my teams show me something revolutionary, I still ask: 'Are we going to do this in five years?' But I follow it with: 'What can we build today that helps customers get there?'
Because in the end, the curse of being too early is also a gift. It teaches you that successful innovation isn't about predicting the future. It's about building bridges that help your customers get there at their own pace.
Matt Lhoumeau is the co-founder and CEO of Concord, a contract management platform used by over 1,500 companies worldwide. Before founding Concord, Matt worked with Nicholas Sarkozy during the 2007 French presidential campaign and overcame manual contract management challenges at a $5 billion telecom company, inspiring him to transform how businesses handle agreements.
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