Be different, better, bigger, smaller, and faster

Photo credit: Gabriel Sanchez

In startup speak, it’s too often you’ll run into the idea that startups are conquering the world (most recognizable with the adage: “Software is eating the world”) and maybe, if you’re a corporation, you’re desperate to figure out how to compete with startups. After all, when all traditional business look on at what Uber and Grab are doing to the taxi industry, they’re shaken. They hope that it doesn’t happen to them.

But these are both cliches. They detract from the real issue of business innovation and the brutal journey of company and product building.

On one side, such instances are unique and defensible depending on the industry. And in another sense, maybe the more pressing issue is being more gritty about what innovation means more generally. For anyone looking to start a new venture, it’s important not to get caught up in the trends and focus on the fundamentals.

Being different and better

In 1997, Apple was renewed with Steve Jobs slowly coming back to the helm of the company. That’s when it launched its “Think Different” campaign to great fanfare. But in his talk with developers at WWDC, he made some very interesting remarks (at 12:17 in the video). One of the points he made was that it was important to be both better and different, even prioritizing being better over being different. And that naturally, being different would follow:

But if we can be much better without being different, that would be fine with me. I want to be much better. I don’t care about being different. We’ll have to be different in some ways to be much better, but that’s the prize, wouldn’t you agree?

I think Jobs gets at the heart of what is very important about innovation and technology. In order to stay ahead of the curve, every company is going to have to look deep within their industry and see how they can make their product or services considerably better than what they currently have and what the rest of the market is offering.

And as far as technology is concerned, being better certainly results in being different. After all, as Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” As the entire market of products fight to do the same thing, the winners are going to be the ones who break the mold, innovate, and bring impressively new value to customers.

Think big but start small

In the specific context of Southeast Asia, it is increasingly important for founders to think big. But most founders will go against such advice when they’re spending their late nights burning the midnight oil reading Lean Startup, which advises you to start small. Even the immortal Paul Graham advises people do “do things that don’t scale”. But I think people take this out of context and hastily apply this to the complexity of their fledgling businesses.

The truth is we must strike out our own balance. You must have the strategy of looking farther into the future, into newer markets, and potential threats. At the same time, you have to have the tactics of daily management, micromanaging the key details of making a great product, and interacting excruciatingly closely with your users.

This balance is healthy because thinking small will help build your initial market, while thinking big will prevent threats from entering your space. If you aren’t thinking big (or thinking deeply), you risk being blown out of the water by technologies or businesses that are superior or faster than yours. Case in point: Yahoo being overtaken by Google in the late 90’s.

Moving at the speed of light

With that said, the last point touches upon a key factor: speed. Indeed, being different, better, bigger, and smaller are vital. But none of them matters if you don’t move fast. And moving fast comes down to how you are managing your team, moment to moment and week to week. It is an attitude that you must instill into the culture of your team.

When things happen in the market, you adapt your strategy quickly. When your competitor makes a unique shift, you have to respond immediately. When you see new technology or design that can exponentially improve your product, you have to integrate it as fast as possible.

The art of building companies