I know I am too young to come out with a theory of the world. But then the young are expected to do stupid stuff.
For those of you who think I am talking about TOE (Theory of everything) i.e. the theory which describes all physical phenomena, then I am sorry.
Please see String Theory or Theory of everything.
What I want to talk about is the theory of the The 3 evergreen competitive advantages.
Why? Because just like that new mobile phone you bought a couple of months ago, human tech evolution and the speed of change/development today has ensured that almost every differentiated product and service you can think up of, will become commoditized even before you can say “Oh Shit”
But you already know that.
So if major multi-billion dollar corporations now struggle with sustainability of profits and have to churn out “sexy” “wow” and “awesome” products all the time, what can a small meek mortal like you do?
What can one do to ensure that the tidal waves of change don’t wash away all that competitive advantage you have created in your job/startup/life/company etc?
That’s where the theory of 3 comes into play.
This has been used for centuries by those who have understood it.
For anyone interested in history, pertinent examples will come up all the time in every setting of human civilization.
The three things one must continuously build on, sometimes in this particular order, to do well and stay ahead.
1. Knowledge – Information is now commoditized, available to anyone with an internet connection. Its now our ability to join the dots, analyze information and predict outcomes in advance that leads to a build up of knowledge. Patents are useful, but with the speed of tech development they too have been rendered useless in many cases. Now, more than ever, a human mind that can pick up bits of information and make sense of them, in real time and execute , should be considered far more powerful that any computer with a million economic and business projection models. And I don’t mean, that becoming a geek is desirable, just that be good enough in whatever one choose to do, to be considered a geek.
Because they wrote it wrong. It was always “The Geek shall inherit the earth”
2. Reputation – Once you have knowledge in your hands, it is extremely important to cull a reputation from it by executing stuff. If you wont execute, you wont have results and hence no reputation. Brands, Rockstars, Doctors, Successful Executives all understand this. Otherwise you will end up being full of un-applied and hence non-verifiable knowledge that never did anyone any good. Oh and in my experience, the fact that “good schools” make you a well rounded person, is utter crap. Our future is only in the super-specialization of what we love to do.
3. Access – Finally, with a heavy tranche of knowledge and a solid reputation, you must aim for access. Access to the right people, with the right opportunities to offer. Its what helps get people jobs, projects, movies (take a quick look at the buffoons masquerading as actors) and other such stuff. Why? Because those who offer you the opportunity, need what you have built. A reputation and knowledge to push their interests along. No one does it because they like your face (admittedly, they might do it because they are mad, but don’t count on it)
Many successful startups have gone through these 3 steps and found great sustainable success.
In my next post I will give supporting evidence for these three. Just so that you know I have really thought about this stuff. And that I didn’t write this when I was high.
Startup Yapper 