How many haters did you create this week?
When an entrepreneur who is stuck comes to me seeking advice, that’s usually the first question I ask. (Which often causes them to freeze in their tracks.)
No haters usually means you spent the week playing not to lose. Polishing the safe message. Avoiding friction.
A week of this turns into months like this, and months like this turn into boring, forgettable brands that no one gives a fuck about. And branding is everything when you want to grow your biz or make a bigger impact.
Now if you sell something like drinking straws, payroll services, or office furniture, you might think this advice doesn’t apply to you. After all, you’re not OpenAI, SpaceX, or Taylor Swift. But here’s the paradox…
The more ordinary your business, the more extraordinary your signal must be.
Yes, “boring” businesses can become giants. Walmart. Waste Management. Cintas. But those companies are outliers. For most entrepreneurs, especially those of you in startups and early-stage ventures, the least important thing on your list should be fitting in or playing not to lose. Boring equals death.
Mediocrity creates indifference. Greatness creates emotion. Risky is the new safe.
Do you remember the hysteria when LeBron James made his decision to leave Cleveland and pursue a championship with the Miami Heat? In Ohio, they were tearing down his posters and burning his jerseys. (Then of course, bought new ones when he returned. And burned those when he left again.)
When people burn your jersey, it means you matter.
That was more than a decade ago and LeBron still creates fervent reactions both positive and negative. That means he’s relevant, and still doing important things. Every time Manny Machado steps into the batter’s box in an opposing team’s stadium, the crowd boos him relentlessly. Then he smiles inside, takes a couple practice cuts, and silently reminds himself, “They don’t boo nobodies.”
Athletes switch sports teams all the time. If they’re mediocre, no one cares. If they’re good, fans get upset. If they’re great, people are passionate enough to burn their jerseys, hire sky writers, or some other public act to show their anguish and agony.
I once told my friend Alan Weiss that if some people aren’t unfollowing me every day…I’m probably not doing my job.
If you want to be a thought leader, market leader, or change the world – you need to give up the need to be liked. Telling people what they want to hear makes you popular. Telling people what they need to hear makes you relevant, significant, and impactful.
If no one hates your message, it probably isn’t strong enough to matter.
I’d rather coach an entrepreneur who irritates 70 percent of the marketplace…because the other 30 percent will become ride-or-die fanatics. (Think Apple, Cirque du Soleil, or Nike.)
If you participate in my Breakthrough U entrepreneur accelerator, you know that I’m constantly beating the drum about becoming the face of your business, and why personal brands eclipse corporate ones. Now let me add this: Safe brands get customers. Dangerous brands create movements.
I’m a high school dropout. But allow me to share one idea worth more to you than a Ph.D. in marketing:
People don’t become evangelists because they like you. They become evangelists because your signal helps define who they are. When someone reads a strong message, one of three things happens:
As an entrepreneur or other agent of change, your goal is number three.
As Naval Ravikant wisely points out, most new businesses think they need investors when what they actually need is signal. Signal is the beacon you send out, transmitting the message, “Something important is happening here. It matters, and it really matters to you.” So let me ask you the real question:
Are you building signal…or just trying not to offend anyone?
Peace,
- RG
Previous Post: Money Can’t Fix Bad Thinking
Subscribe to Randy’s Blog via Email
