An important aspect of strategic choke is whether to be a pioneer or a follower. This issue is especially important for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), potentially disadvantaged by scale in design, production and marketing. However, empirical evidence suggests that, in spite of their size, SMEs may benefit from being pioneers or first movers’. Indeed, in some markets being first may be the only way SMEs can compete against larger firms, whose advantages in exploitation may be more scale intensive than in earlier stages of the innovation process.