A Microsoft guy walks into a booth and says “So, what do you do?” The friendly people in the booth explain the technology, customer base, happy people, cool stuff, etc. All normal, all happy happy.
Microsoft Guy: “Oh. Well, I’ve been in our research department and they do what you do, so, well, bad for you.”
The booth CEO says, in effect, I don’t think so, we have 9 patents, millions of users, and do this that nobody that we know of does.
Microsoft Guy: “Well, research has stuff that we can use and it probably is good enough.”
This isn’t about BAD MICROSOFT
This has two points:
- Good Enough. Windows is Good Enough.
- (the) big challenge is to make sure your prevent one (or ten) arrogant people from destroying the hard work of 1000s of others.
Building a product, you’re up against good enough which is why there are a thousand word processors available for Windows, but most people use Word. You’re up against that. There will always be someone making a less smart, less sexy product cheaper than your product.
Also, be confident without being arrogant. If you shit on someone, they’ll know in future that you’re a git and will treat you like one.