Do you really want to boil the ocean?
Throughout my professional career, I’ve observed how those with tons of resources and outsized ambitions, try to execute Hail Mary initiatives with very limited results. On the other hand, focusing on high quality, low quantity results (e.g., get a few fanatical users of a product versus thousands of site visitors), is much more effective. Later, they are able to build upon these successes. Startups should really resist the temptation and pressure to ignore this key principle in pursuit of the “boil the ocean” strategy.
I’m still surprised by the strong voices that startup founders hear leading them down a road that will dilute their efforts and produce negligible or incredibly costly results. These voices take the form of their own desires, of criticisms for not being ambitious enough or “thinking too small.” My personal experience has been anecdotal, but there are actual studies that confirm this even more.
