Zigging Rather Than Zagging
February 1st, 2008 by Benjamin KuoOne somewhat disappointing trend I’ve observed lately from aspiring entrepreneurs I’ve run into, has been a tendency to focus on incremental improvements to the latest popular, consumer-focused web site. For example, “we’re a better version of MySpace,” or “we’re developing a cooler YouTube,” or “we’ve got a better designed version of eBay,” or — the most recent — “we’ve got a cool addition to Facebook.”
My personal observation is the most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who see opportunities where others haven’t looked, or who are doing something different. In other words, people who are going “zig” when others are going “zag.” These are the folks who are creating new markets, developing businesses where others haven’t been before, and are likely — in venture capital terms — to create a “game changer.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean that these entrepreneurs are doing “pie in the sky” things, but just that they’re not doing exactly what ten other people are doing. Sometimes, this is because they have a particular understanding of a market no one else is familiar with; have a great idea on how to apply a particular technology; or just have a different way of looking at things
