What Makes Companies Great

The path of least resistance:

• Humans tend to seek the easiest path to satisfy X (e.g., their customers); they don't go further.

For instance, say you're working on a project with a contractor to build your ridiculous shack.

1. Your contractor will build your shack to meet your needs.
2. S/he won't go any further to satisfy you more.

The contractor then loses opportunities to provide your shack additional value (destroying future sales opportunities with you and referrals from you).

BAM TEH SUK

Apple and Google?

1. Satisfy customer needs.
2. Then, blow customers the motherfrrrruuukkkk away with ridiculously more value.

Google's not content with just providing you a search engine; Apple was never content with just being a computer company for you.

Altavista and Sun, on the other hand, thought HEY IF WE CAN MEET CUSTOMER NEEDS WE WIN HI FIVE

• But bam: their competitors went beyond customer needs, crushing Altavista and Sun with smarter search engine algorithms and freakishly simpler server deployments.

The Human

The human tendency to do only what's necessary helped our ancestors conserve their limited resources; doing anything more could've killed them.

That adopted mindset, however, starts to become a liability when it prevents you from going freakishly beyond customers' needs and building a greater company -- knowing that even in the absolute worst-case scenario in which you SUCK MORE THAN SUCK, you'll still survive with abundant food, water, and shelter in a 2010 economy.

• Your competitors will seek the path of least resistance; if you can go wayyyyyyyy beyond customer needs, you'll build a sustainably strong company.

WIN 4EVA

Beyond customer satisfaction.

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