The phrase "understood early on" is grammatically correct and commonly used in written English.
It is often used to indicate that something was understood or realized at an early stage or point in time. Example: "It was understood early on that the project would require additional funding." In this sentence, the phrase "understood early on" indicates that the understanding or realization happened at the beginning of the project.
But the one-time ad agency employee, seasoned veteran of underachieving bands such as the Konrads, Riot Squad and folk trio Feathers, and voracious acquirer and skimmer of books (he once described himself as "a born librarian with a sex drive") understood early on that one of the best ways to generate mystique was to deny that it existed.
"While we were building the personalized news feed, one thing we understood early on is that click behavior is hardly an indication of user interest," Rajan said.
Eleanor Roosevelt — made merciless fun of by her cousin — certainly appreciated Alice's intelligence, but also understood, early on, that her life seemed "to be one long pursuit of pleasure and excitement and rather little real happiness".
Croshere understood early on that Bird cared about his progress.
Keynes understood early on the fallacy of applying such mechanical rules.
I understood early on that the American experiment had an appeal to foreigners.
We have to understand early on whether populations overlap or whether they're very distinct.
It's important for the younger generation to understand early on that when they have money, they also have options.
I understand early on the decision was made for Keira Knightley (as Colette) not to wear a corset.
And not because he was on some cheap machismo trip or because he had a taste for the macabre it was because he legitimately thought if I didn't understand this lesson early on, I might not make it to age 25.
Well I understood quite early on that if I was going to accept the good ones I would have to accept the bad ones too so I try and take it on the chin.
