Born to Run: The Magic of Building a Unique Point of View

"We got one last chance to make it real

To trade in these wings on some wheels

Climb in back, heaven's waiting down on the tracks”

-?Bruce Springsteen, Thunder Road

In the summer of 1974, Bruce Springsteen was trapped in Bob Dylan's shadow.

Springsteen signed with Columbia Records in 1972 after impressing the label's legendary executive, John Hammond, with his rough, masculine voice and poetic lyrics.

But his first two years with Columbia were anything but spectacular.

Springsteen was immediately compared to Bob Dylan, who was one of Columbia's largest artists at the time. Dylan was also discovered by Hammond, also wrote poetic lyrics, and also wrote music that leaned heavily on themes that were pulled out of normal, everyday life in working-class America. It wasn't long before the word spread that Bruce was "the new Dylan."

In the 1960s, Bob Dylan popularized a brand of folk-rock that helped him become one of the most influential musicians in history.?

Who wouldn't want to be the new (or incrementally better) version of him?

This is the very same way most businesses approach marketing. They conclude that, "clearly what people want is folk-rock. We're going to do folk-rock, but better."

And for the first two years of his time with Columbia, that’s exactly what Bruce Springsteen did.?

The result? Both of his first two records made in 1973 bombed.

When speaking of Springsteen's first album release, the critic Lester Bangs wrote, "... many of us dismissed it: he wrote like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, sang like Van Morrison and Robbie Robertson, and led a band that sounded like Van Morrison's."

Springsteen wasn’t perceived as different, which made him dismissable.

The general consensus on Springsteen during those years was that he was making look-alike albums. It wasn't HIS music. In other words, he had entered the hyper-competitive music landscape by saying, "you want to listen to music? I make music, just like these other guys; listen to me." And the results weren't great.?

In the spring of 1975, the team at Columbia Records gave the singer one last shot.?

Springsteen's biographer, Peter Ames Carlin, wrote, "Columbia gave Bruce and the band just enough money to produce one song to show he could make great singles and prove the next album would be worth making..."

This limitation pushed Springsteen to throw off convention, disregard what he thought people wanted to hear, and start playing music that carried his unique point of view; he finally found the courage to record a song that was distinctly his.?

This new type of music would come to be known as "heartland rock."?

And the first song he made in this new category became one of the most iconic songs of all time: "Born to Run."

After hearing Springsteen perform this new song, the musical journalist, John Landau, beamed, "I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen."

Years later, Bruce would write about “Born to Run” in the liner notes to his Greatest Hits album, saying, "My shot at the title. A 24 year old kid aimin' at 'The greatest rock 'n roll record ever.'"

Springsteen finally quit playing folk-rock and created a new genre of music called heartland rock.

Heartland rock is not a better version of folk rock; it is fundamentally different.?

When he stopped anchoring to what currently existed in the music market, Springsteen forced critics and fans to drop the comparisons to Bob Dylan and start building his own music empire, becoming the 7th best-selling male vocalist of all-time.

Most importantly, Springsteen redefined what success looked and sounded like.?

• Success was no longer writing like Bob Dylan.?
• Success was no longer singing like Van Morrison.?
• Success was now defined through the point of view of “Heartland Rock.”

Mediocre leaders insist on playing the comparison game; legends force a choice.

To Zig Or To Zag

When I talk to agtech startups and agribusinesses about their marketing, the conversation usually begins by them asking me some form of “how do we get the word out?”

• “Are we on the right channels?”
• “Should we try to put up field signs with our retail partners and growers?”?
• “Do we have the right SEO strategy?”

The problem with this type of thinking is that it assumes the market. Each of these things is potentially valuable as part of your marketing mix, but they are treacherous places to begin. When you start marketing by asking where to show up or any other tactical question, you’re essentially saying, “demand exists for this thing and the best we can do is capture some of it for ourselves.”

You make the mistake of asking “how do we get people to pay attention to our thing,” instead of asking the far more profitable question, “what would matter here?”?

I was recently speaking with an agtech venture capitalist who I have great respect for about the commercial strategy of a company we’re both working with when a comment was made that almost caught me off guard.

“[This] is a real trend right now that is well-defined by some of the major businesses in this space, do we “zig” and pile on that trend or do we “zag” and define our own part of the marketplace?”

My response was to ask, “do we have the financial or personnel resources to compete with the majors?”?

“No, of course not,” was the answer.?

“So why are we trying to play their game by their rules?”

The company who defines the customer’s thinking about their problem is the company who establishes the terms of customer dialogue and the rules of competitive engagement.?

If you’re a startup or a builder who does not have the courage to formulate a unique point of view on your customer’s problem, then you should probably find a new problem to solve. Microsoft and Bayer don’t need you to re-confirm their thinking on the agricultural marketplace.?

Make something different. Make people care. Make fans, not followers.

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