nice report.

the question is, how do we know if a brand is "right"?

Many brands started slow but sticked to their positioning and end up being successful (red bull, southwest, etc).

For a startup, what are the signs to watch out for to tell when a brand is working and just take patience, or when a brand is just not working? This is a crucial question since startups don't have much time or resources to last the fight.

For startups, the rush to launch, the race to hype is acerbated by the myth of "got to have first mover advantage." It is far wiser to be "first to get it right" and be iPod rather than Rio. Very valuable presentation, Laura.

Your claim that the iPhone got off to a fast start is incorrect. In hindsight you'll see that it wasa slow start, not a "big bang."