Why not have another edition of This Hollow Earth?

Here’s some random ramblings and thoughts that circled my brain while doing the dishes.

get rid of your dishwasher
Dishwashers are a source of stress. Do the dishes yourself instead: 30 minutes meditative work per day keeps the doctor away. Alternatively: buy a dog.

An evening stroll
I was walking my dog the other day when we ran into the kingfisher

“Good afternoon kingfisher”, I said
“Good afternoon”, the kingfisher said

“Why are you listening to music?”, I asked
“I’m not listening to music”, the kingfisher answered
“Why are you eating?”, I continued
“I’m not eating”, the kingfisher replied
“Why are you drinking beer?”, I asked
“I’m not drinking beer”, the kingfisher insisted

I smiled at the kingfisher and the kingfisher smiled back

Oh Big head, where is thy Long tail?
One of the charms (and why investors like them) of SaaS companies is their promise to address the long tail. In that sense, “we’re a SaaS company” (implying long tail growth opportunities) must be the most mis-used term for labeling your start-, excuse me, scale-up. Not in terms of what SaaS means semantically, but what it means emotionally; Saas implies “Scale”. Then, you’re not a SaaS if you do consulting for your launching customer. You’re not a SaaS when your growth + operating margin is < 40%. And you’re not a SaaS when your servicing the big head without a viable Go To Market for addressing the long tail.

“Bridging the gap” is the classic jump from early adopters to early majority. That is indeed the most challenging hurdle to overcome when building a company. But I would like to argue there are many more gaps or local optimums where companies get stuck. Getting stuck in the Big head is one of them.

There are many reasons for that is but one of the most overlooked ones is that companies start playing the finite game instead of the infinite game. I didn’t know about the infite game concept until recently but it provides a great lens for analysing why companies get stuck:

  • Planet Labs optimised for winning DoD contracts instead of building a commercial platofrm
  • Cleantech 1.0 Startups (2006 - 21013): solving for subsidies, not markets
  • Blockchain supply chain traceability: technology in search of a problem

We can dig deeper in these cases if you like, and I will. But let’s first have a look at what I think is the #1 finite game mistake of many, many (EO based) service providers that deliver environmental landscape indicators: competing on accuracy. That is why they get stuck in consulting for their launching customers(s), that is why they get stuck in the Big

Accuracy is a red herring, accuracy is bike shedding
Essay coming up! I will write a blog on why focusing on accuracy will yield mild wins in the short term but will kill your business in the long term. In short, how is competing on accuracy playing the finite game?

When you benchmark “95% accuracy!” against yourselves (or the clients ask!), you’re playing a defined game with clear rules and an endpoint: “We win when our accuracy number is higher than it was last quarter.”

This creates finite game behaviors:

  • Measurable endpoint: 95% → 96% → 97% → 99%… then what? You “won”?
  • Zero-sum thinking: Resources spent chasing 2% accuracy improvement = resources NOT spent building adaptive capabilities
  • Easy to communicate: Executives love numbers. Boards love KPIs. “We improved accuracy by 3%!” sounds like progress.
  • Bikeshedding: Everyone can have an opinion about accuracy. It’s like debating the color of the bike shed instead of whether you need a bike shed at all.

But here’s the trap: Your customers don’t actually buy “accuracy.” They buy:

  • Risk reduction
  • Compliance confidence
  • Decision-making speed
  • Supply chain visibility
  • Business model enablement

You should focus on these points, the things that make customers tick. What is the superpower customers gain with your service?

Stay tuned for more.

No images this time but there’s an image of cake in The staff ate it later

Sysiphus is sweating sweet sweat
Not all tears cried are bitter. Not all sweat is salty. The tears of painting yourself into an ever smaller corner are bitter. Sweating while biking uphill through the autumn forest is sweet sweat.

trust and confidence
Last time we argued that trust is the currency of productivity. Jokes are an expression of trust. I only insult people that I trust.

Fin.