THENEXTMACH

A note of caution on this one, there is a lot of colour below and I appreciate your patience on my delivery. This post represents my thoughts shared privately with friends and personal mentors on what lessons can be taken away from the Wesabe story. Am excited about this reflection and so wrote my answer with some fucking chutzpah.

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This shit is about 1)insight and 2)speed.

From a philosophical perspective, #1 would be your value system—the axiom that transcends every level of strategy and execution; the shit that both guides you like a compass, while also grounding you to the tarmac when you’re flight path is just too audacious. Number 2 then, is your virtue. Its the how, what, and when you execute.

The reality is you need #1 to pull some Henry Ford shit and create an offering that is so fucking forward looking that people literally have to have it; your offering has to be profound while also incorporating anything novel you’ve built into a simply perfect package. Remember, if Henry Ford asked those motherfuckers in the 20s what they wanted, they would have answered a Spanish Stallion with some dope ass new wheel cart with the balling ass ball bearings. The guys at Wesabe did just that and that’s the first reason why they failed. The problem wasn’t lacking data—it was just the work that was required to get your personal finances in order. Look back to my friend Rob Fraser’s personal efforts here and you’ll see that it takes books, research, and tools to get this right. Now remember, the best consumer audiences don’t want to do more work—they want to be told how retarded they are!

Wesabe’s answer to the problem wasn’t insightful, it was a hasty analysis with no substantial synthesis. Insight is combing all the pains your audience has and building a comprehensive synthesis that solves every problem, as best possible.

Number 2 is tricky but we’ve all heard it before. Steve Blank talks about pivoting, John Boyd references decision cycles, loads of entrepreneurs talk to the importance of failing and failing fast, etc. Hell, you all even know me to abuse the notion of pivoting; I just can’t find a better term to describe the emphasis of speed. Here’s the deal: in everything you do, it comes down to how fast can you get to where you are and where you need to be. Again, this true in everything—hired the wrong dude: fire him; the development language isn’t fast enough: learn a new one; can’t get enough power to the manufacturing floor fast enough: build a fucking power plant beside your shit. These decisions and actions not need to be immediate however, they must be completed as fast as possible. Note, am also not talking about diluting focus—the emphasis is speed.

Wesabe made some mistakes—which is valid, necessary, inevitable, blah blah blah—but when observing new data and deriving a more solid orientation, they failed to act with speed (if at all).

Insight and speed my friends. Curious to know if anyone thinks any different :)


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