I’m bringing a bottle of Pappy. What are you bringing?

If you are going, and you are fun….let me know.

Stop treating your thirsty customers like shit.  Saving 40 cents on 1000 straws is no way to run a business.

Thin straws are terrible.  They make the soft-drink super fizzy.  How could it be any other way, after such a violent ascent to my mouth?

Dr. Pepper, coke or sprite?  Who knows….because of this dumbass straw it just tastes like pressurized seltzer water.

Do yourself a favor.  Go to your local McDonalds….order a large drink.  Take a sip from the straw.  I guarantee you it will be the tastiest soft-drink you’ve had in a long time.

Why?

Thick straw diameter.  Natural flow of liquid and an appropriate level of carbonation stimulation.

It’s the little things that matter.

Get your act together, buddy.

Sincerely,

Those Who Appreciate Quality

You’re welcome.

You see, son….this ain’t my first rodeo.  I’ve been playing this “online digital business 3.14159265″ game since Facebook 0.1, aka AOL.com, was in vogue.

So, I have some ideas on what helps guys like you win, and what doesn’t.  Like anything else, success in startup-land is often tied to an understanding of the tools that are available.  It is my goal mission to provide you with access to those people, tools, sites, services, etc that will help you to win.

I do this, not out of pity for your clueless-ass.  Like any good capitalist, I plan to exploit your ignorance and use it to feed my insatiable greed in the future.  But first, I will lure you into the kingdom of knowledge and winship, of which I am both mayor and gatekeeper, as far as you’re concerned.

Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, consider Swantastic! a gift on my daughter’s show-and-tell day.

Win.

p.s. Red font is indicative of red-meat for the looters and hippies who use this site as evidence of the evil nature of the wealth-creators.

It’s not just him.  It’s reality.

And as the founder of one of the world’s most successful knockoff companies, I really can’t think of anything wrong with it.

In fact, there are a lot of things RIGHT with knockoffs on the startup scene:

1. Ideas aren’t worth much on their own.  In fact, I’ll prove it to you right now.  I have an idea!  It’s amazing.  Instead of shipping goods or people across the country in airplanes, my idea is a product that would get them there in 3-4 seconds using advanced optic teleportation technology.  3-4 seconds to be ANYWHERE!   Now….how much will you pay me for this IDEA?




2. Weed out the weak hands in both entrepreneurship and startup-investing. You have a unique idea.  You determine the timing of taking it to market.  You determine the marketing, PR and other promotional aspects of the business.  You get a head start on everyone that could ever copy you.  Now….with all of those “original idea” advantages, if I can get my version 1 out before you react to customers and get your version 2 out……if I can move quickly enough to get YOUR idea executed and in the hands of more people swiftly…..why the hell shouldn’t I win?   VC’s and angels investing in “feature ideas” instead of “business teams” will also get what they deserve.   EVERYTHING counts.  Just because you’re first to market with an idea doesn’t mean you don’t have to distribute, brand, support etc!




3. Revenues matter. The things that make “features” so tempting to build are the exact same things that make them so easy to copy.  Cheap to build, fast to market, all that low-barrier stuff.  But revenues…that really changes the game.  Revenues are a mirror of end-user value.  To build a product or service that people or companies are willing to pay for is not easy.  It’s even less easy to copy, because those initial customers are much less likely to switch to a copycat.  Think of it this way:  Are you more likely to try another free photo-sharing site, or try another brokerage?




4. It’s the way it is, damn it! Trying to fight copycats is ignorant.  What….was Google the first search engine, or did they COPYCAT Altavista…or AOL….or Yahoo?   Did Henry Ford owe it to Ferdinand Verbiest not to produce the Model T in massive quantities?  Of course not.  Competition (the absence of a monopoly on the execution of an IDEA) is what makes the world a better place, and yet it does not exist for the most savvy of entrepreneurs.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it, chief.

In summary:  Yes, there will be more and more fast knockoffs as more and more “originators” are simply features with low barriers to entry.  Originators still have a major advantage and are still a great investment if there is a business and team that EXECUTES behind the idea.  If not, then the copycat that has those parts deserves to win.

So don’t worry about copycats.  ASSUME they are already there on day one.  Beat them before they can even get started.  Build your own barriers and keep innovating, keep growing the gap between yourself and the parrots.

Oh, and if you see someone with a great idea that you can “knock off” and beat…..DO IT.  This is business, not show-and-tell.

Win.

“Should I wait to have a profitable web application before getting married/have kids?”

My answer:   No.

Entrepreneurship, in my opinion, is a life-long thing if you do it right.  Doesn’t mean you’ll always be involved in a startup, but it does mean that you will always want that option.

And so it’s important to be with someone that supports that.  Someone that accepts risk and believes in YOUR ability to create wealth.

Your spouse should be drawn to you not for what you have, but for the qualities that get you there.

Remember, struggle is often the biggest motivator of success.

Plus…you only get one life, and it could end today via the wrong end of a government-employed texting bus-driver.

So why wait for ANYTHING you really want?

p.s.  There are plenty of good reasons to wait to get married and have kids….this entire post it written for the entrepreneur that is specifically asking should he put the rest of his life on hold to focus on doing what he’s doing.  I’d never pretend to be an expert in the timing of other people’s family decisions.

You are charting new territory.  You see, unlike other “rights”, healthcare isn’t something that can merely be “protected”….healthcare is something that must be provided.

So what you’re saying is that everyone has the right to be provided with health care.

And who provides health care?   Other people (’the providers”)…doctors, nurses, drug makers, etc.   This is their labor.

So now we can expand your original statement to “Everyone has the right to be provided health care by the providers.”

Of course, that means that the providers have no right to deny their labor.  Providers no longer own their labor, for it MUST be given.

Which, by any reasonable definition, is enslavement.

If you are willing to declare healthcare a right, you are willing to enslave the provider to the needs/wants of the recipient.

Careful.

Here’s my page….go on, “ask me anything”.

There are basically two sides to this.

First, it can be a bit self-delusional and narcissistic.  “Wow isn’t it cool that you can ask ME anything?”.  Yawn for me, thrill for you.

But more importantly, it’s a platform for “on-demand blogging”. You see….I have a rather sizable cross to bear.  I know you’re out there, pining for my next masterpiece…..and yet, I rarely come up with topics worthy of my pen while sober.

So here’s the deal:

“Ask me anything” on the formspring page.  It’s anonymous if you want it to be.

If it’s really stupid, I’ll delete it and give it nary another thought.

If it’s just kind of stupid, I’ll answer it on the formspring page.

If it’s intelligent, thought-provoking or generally complimentary of me, I will use it as a topic for this vaulted web-log (I like to call it a “blog” for short) AND link to the final post from my formspring page.

p.s. If you have (or start) a formspring page, let us all know in the comments below.  I’ll question your very being, without the veil of anonymity.

p.s.s.  It’s buggy right now so if you don’t have patience for startup-sites, don’t bother.

The concept is not new…

You’re better off as a “small fish” in a wide, blue ocean than in a pool of water bloodied by the fighting of competitors.

Attacking a strong enemy with a frontal assault is typically a recipe for disaster.  Instead, find his weaknesses (flank) and stay in position to exploit them ferociously.

Offer unique value to customers.

Execution is critical….

Learn how to “map” the competencies of your competition and YOURSELF.  This is critical.  You simply have to commit to being excellent in new and different ways.

When we started mytrade, we started with this concept in mind.

1. What are 10 things people love in a finance site?
2. Map Yahoo finance (the dominator) in each category.
3. Identify the categories that Yahoo Finance was excellent at (data, quotes, news, screener, etc)
4. Completely IGNORE those categories (mytrade has NEVER been about data, quotes, news or a screener)
5. Identify the categories that Yahoo Finance was poor at (peer-to-peer communication, unique trading ideas, options spreads, etc)
6. Make mytrade ALL ABOUT those things that Yahoo was poor at…that we thought people would like

Google did the opposite, tried to take on Yahoo Finance directly.   And while Google Finance languishes (despite its incredible “exposure” positioning), mytrade thrives.

Competitors irrelevant….

When you do this, the “competition” isn’t competition anymore.   They can’t fight you because they don’t understand or care about your core competencies.   If anything, they’ll want to partner with you (or buy you) to fill in a hole that you’ve proven they have.

It’s all about YOUR execution of YOUR competencies.  No one else is involved.

You have to be right that people will care about the categories you’ve identified….

This isn’t a process to be taken lightly.  It will define your business.  It will define your customer-base.   Take your time and get it right.  Ask questions.  Challenge yourself and your assumptions.

The BEST thing that can happen to you in this process is to discover that customers care a lot about something you and your competitors haven’t even thought of yet.

Do it right, and you’ll answer everyone with “we have no competition”….and mean it.

Win.

For proof of this, imagine that you, Dave and I are stuck on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean, with nothing but the clothes on our back.   We are as poor as three people can be.

Now suppose you invent a system whereby the fallen branches of a dead tree can be fashioned into a 2 bedroom home with a central heating fireplace.

After a brilliant idea and a lot of labor on your part, you have built a meager home.  Wealth has been created.

Now, you “control” 100% of the wealth of the region.

Is this unfair?

In exchange for Dave and I sharing the 2nd room, you suggest we pay “rent” to you in the form of gathering food and firewood for you while you watch the sunset each evening for an hour.  This sounds good, so we agree.  After a few months of this, however, we begin to resent the “fat cat” who lounges while we labor…..

Would it be just for me and Dave (the majority) to “vote” that anyone with wealth must give a portion of that wealth to those with less….and failure to do so would result in forfeiture of wealth to the community and forced confinement?

If this island policy were enacted, would you be likely to create more wealth in the future?   Do you think that the island would be more likely to have large standard-of-living advancements with or without this policy of redistribution?

At what point in the wealth-creation cycle does “equality of result” defeat “incentive to create”?

But I’ll go one step further:  It often sucks to base your business on a completely new idea.

Why?

1. You’re probably not the first to think of it or try it.  A lot of times it is true that the reason something doesn’t exist is because no one really wants it.
2. It’s crushing to get going on a fully original idea and then see a competitor pop up quickly and aggressively.  “New” idea businesses tend to think they’ll be the only ones in the game for much longer than reality will allow (if it actually is a good idea).

Don’t get me wrong, if you have a great idea….GO FOR IT.   Just don’t think you need to have a one-of-a-kind idea to go for it.  You don’t.  You can start a used car lot tomorrow and make a lot of money if you do it well.

Which leads me to my next point:  There is nothing wrong with starting something that’s already being done.  In fact, this is how a LOT of great companies are started….a couple guys sitting around saying “man, I really think we could do it better than those dumbasses (who just so happen to be their bosses….attention soft-middled management).”

There is a certain realistic focus that comes from identifying a clearly-defined enemy prior to the battle.  You know there is a market for what he is doing, because he’s banking some coin.  But you can also identify his weak points….and innovate new ways to best him, take his bounty and win the hearts of his herum, if you will.

So, if you haven’t thought of the “golden idea” yet….stop trying.  Instead, start focusing on who you can take down, and how.  You’ll innovate new ideas that are actually worth something.

p.s. If you’re looking for a target industry, anything with “agent” as a primary position will do quite nicely in the 2010’s.