Posts from ‘Business’
No One Wants A Better Facebook
Google+ won’t win.
It may ‘win’ for a year or two, but it won’t win in the long run — it isn’t the ‘Facebook Killer’ that everyone is heralding it to be.
When people say ‘Facebook Killer,’ they really mean ‘Next Big Thing.’ Most people don’t care about the ‘Killing Facebook’ part of it — they care about the next big innovation that will become the primary platform by which they connect with people across the globe for the next 5 to 7 years. It isn’t Google+.
You can’t kill Facebook by creating a slightly-improved version of Facebook. Why? Because no one wants a better Facebook. They may say they do, but they don’t. Steve Jobs (a master of innovation) famously says, “You can’t just ask your customers what they want, because they don’t know what they want.” In reality, they want something new entirely — something they haven’t even thought of yet.
Whoever can create an online platform that connects people in a completely-unexpected, simple-to-use, fully-integrated, and universally-accessible way will dominate the web for the next 5 to7 years. Barring serious improvements, it won’t be Facebook, Twitter, or Google+. When it does come around, you won’t even realize you need it — until you do.
Every industry has a Facebook. Unless it’s a necessity, don’t spend time creating better Facebooks. It’s not sustainable. You’ll never change the world by creating slightly better products than your competition. Develop a product that no one knows they need, then convince the world that they need it. Create an entire market that didn’t exist before, and force your future competitors to follow your lead.
Us vs. The World Mentality. Every startup feels like they are taking on the world. They don’t have one, single, identifiable competitor to focus on — they have to beat out everyone. Because of this, they work harder and with more urgency than anyone else. They don’t feel complacent with their market share, because they don’t have any.
Something to Prove. Every startup knows they have something to prove. Whether it’s to their investors, their board, their customers, or their friends and family, they have to prove something to someone. They don’t have a name or reputation to rest their laurels on — they have to build it.
Reachability. Want to get in touch with the CEO of a startup? Send him an email. You’ll almost definitely get a reply. Want to get in touch with a upper-level manager at any Fortune 500 company? Shoot him an email. You probably won’t hear back. There’s something to be said about being available to those that take the time to reach out to you. Obviously, there’s a line to be drawn at some point; this can only be taken so far. Steve Jobs can’t afford to respond to every email that’s sent to is entirely-public email address — but, he has one.
Personal Investment. Every startup has an investment from its founders. Whether it be time, money, or resources (likely all of the above), they made a personal investment into their venture and they have something (sometimes everything) to lose if it tanks. They can’t afford to adopt the “salary mindset” — their company has to grow and be successful for them to see returns on their investments. If growth is stagnant, slow, or non-existent, they lose.
Future Market Leader Mindset. Every startup thinks they can be the next Google. They whole-heartedly believe that they can be the market leader, and that they have what it takes to get there. I’ve never heard the founders of a startup saying “well, we hope to have some market share one day.” They believe they can go to the top, and they work with the drive, determination, confidence and swagger of knowing they are going to get there.
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Rather than write some grand ‘What is ReCorporate All About’ post to kick this thing off, I’m just going to jump right in. If you’re interested, you’ll find out what it’s all about soon enough.
I’m working in Nairobi, Kenya right now. Often, I’ll ride my bicycle around town rather than taking a car. Traffic is notoriously bad in Nairobi, so the bike is actually faster (generally).
To complicate matters, the roads here are quite bad — riddled with pot-holes, rocks, and cracks. After riding on them for a few weeks, you quickly learn to be selective about the riding path that you choose. Obviously, the end goal is a smooth ride — to choose the path with the fewest bumps.
When I first started riding in Nairobi, I’d decide which path to take based on what I saw in the next few feet ahead of my front tire. This works great if your goal is to find short spurts of smooth riding, but often a few feet of smooth road will lead you across another 25 feet of incredibly bumpy road.
Experience teaches you that you’ll enjoy a much smoother ride if you focus not on the terrain 2 or 3 feet in front of you, but on what you see 10 or 20 feet in front of you. Sometimes you’ll find yourself making the conscious decision to ride through a few feet of rough patches in order to reach a significant amount of smoother terrain. It’s all about forward-thinking and being concerned with long-term success rather than short-term gain.
Everyday we are all faced with decisions like mine on the bike. Whether it’s a strategic business decision, a restructuring decision within your organization, or simply deciding how to use your time today — alot of decisions can be viewed through this lens. We all want to be comfortable and happy in the short term, but enjoying comfort and happiness in the long-term will far surpass the satisfaction you gain in the short-term.
It’s easy to choose to stare at what you see a few feet in front of you in hopes of some short-term reward. It’s a whole lot harder to further your gaze and focus on long-term, meaningful rewards. This is where the lasting, dynamic, world-changing successes lie for the few that do.
