Regular readers of this blog know that I’m a long-time admirer of Seth Godin. He’s one of those “big thinkers” that has the added talent of being able to articulate high-level concepts in an immensely approachable way. That’s a very rare, and dare I say remarkable intersection of abilities.
The following is a list of short, pithy insights that I’ve been collecting from Seth’s Blog over the past few months. They were not all written specifically for startups, but I found them to be particularly relevant for entrepreneurs. I, like many, think Seth's ideas deserve to be spread.
Enjoy.
If you find any of these particularly resonant, there’s a convenient link to tweet it.
23 Tweetable Startup Insights From Seth Godin
1) Reliance on the tried and true can backfire. [tweet]
2) Sell the problem. No business buys a solution for a problem they don't have. [tweet]
3) Every activity worth doing has a learning curve. [tweet]
4) As the world gets faster, the glacial changes of years and decades are more important, not less. [tweet]
5) Cultural shifts create long terms evolutionary changes. [tweet]
6) Being 1st helps in the short run. Being a little more right pays off in the long run. Last is the worst. [tweet]
7) Build in virality. [tweet]
8) Subscriptions beat one-off sales. [tweet]
9) Treat different customers differently. [tweet]
10) Generate joy. Don't just satisfy a need for a commodity. [tweet]
11) Plan on remarkable experiences, not remarkable ads. [tweet]
12) Don't build a fortress of secrets, bet on open. [tweet]
13) You can get even more done if you give away credit, relentlessly [tweet]
14) Create scarcity but act with abundance. [tweet]
15) Competition validates you. It creates a category. It permits the sale to be this or that, not yes or no. [tweet]
16) There are lots of good reasons to abandon a project. Having a little competition is not one of them. [tweet]
17) It's not who can benefit from what you sell. It's about choosing the customers you'd like to have. [tweet]
18) The customers you fire and those you pay attention to all send signals to the rest of the group. [tweet]
19) 100 people doing something at the same time has far more power than 300 people doing it over time. [tweet]
20) Are you chasing or being chased? Are you leading or following? Are you fleeing or climbing? [tweet]
21) Get it right for ten people before you rush around scaling up to a thousand. [tweet]
22) Highlighting what's working helps you make that happen more often. [tweet]
23) Perfect is overrated. Perfect doesn't scale, either. [tweet]
Which is your favorite? Any that I missed that you have in your secret stash?
By the way, you can follow me on twitter @dharmesh.
