As you get going, keep in mind why you are doing what you’re doing. Great businesses have a point of view, not just a product or service. You have to believe in something. You need to have a backbone. You need to know what you are willing to fight for. And then you need to show the world.
A strong stand is how you attract superfans. They point to you and defend you. And they spread the word further, wider, and more passionately than any advertising could.
Strong opinions are not free. You will turn some people off. They will accuse you of being arrogant and aloof. That’s life. For everyone who loves you, there will be others who hate you. If no one’s upset by what you are saying, you are probably not pushing hard enough. (And you are probably boring too.).
Lots of people hate us because our products do less than the competition’s. They are insulted when we refuse to introduce their pet features. But we are just as proud of what our products don’t do as we are of what they do.
We design them to be simple because we believe most software is too complex: too many features, too many buttons, too much confusion. So, we build software that’s the opposite of that. If what we make is not right for everyone, that’s OK. We are willing to lose some customers if it means that others love our products intensely. That’s our line in the sand.
When you don’t know what you believe, everything becomes an argument. Everything is debatable. But when you stand for something, decisions are obvious.
