Think Different: The Value of Being One of a Kind

One day, a mother fox and a lioness watched their children play. As they looked on, the smug mother fox turned to the lioness and began bragging about her many children.

"My litter of cubs is a joy to see," she said.

Then she added sneeringly, "I see you only have one cub...that's too bad."

"That's true," said the lioness thoughtfully. "But my cub is a lion - the future king of the jungle."

Today, our companies face the choice of being one of a kind or run-of-the-mill; we must decide whether we want to be a member of the litter or the category king.

We have to decide whether we want to be the company that captures 76% of the economics in our category or whether we want to be one of the many companies who choose to fight for the remaining 24%.

In our haste to chase the apparition of product-market fit, many companies in agtech have over-indexed for scale and market potential instead of finding a piece of the market where we can truly matter.

A general assumption is made across the world of business (agribusiness in particular) that there must be a current market for the solutions we are building.

It's embedded in our commercial vernacular - we have to "go to market." So everyone gets in line to go in the same direction as everyone else—the typical journey of the forgettable.

The reality is that someone is creating your company’s market category. The only question is: are you the creator or are you letting someone else set your vision for you?

The Danger in Running With the Pack

"Better is negotiable, different is not." - Elie Kanaan

Run-of-the-mill companies blindly accept the idea that when enough people see their newer, cheaper, better, faster, or cooler technology, the market will unanimously crown them the new category king.

When we do this, we leave the valuation and definition of our organizations and product-sets to chance (i.e. ”market forces”) by refusing to properly position ourselves.

We make the naive assumption that the market is something over which we exert no influence...

The natural question that most marketers and innovators take when they start out is to ask, “where's the market for this thing?” “How can we steal market share from those who own it now?”

The greatest companies and idealists begin by asking “what's our different point of view on this problem?” Then they build a dam to pull demand from where it is today to where they need it to be in the future.

“You thought you wanted that, but you really want this because it solves your problem in this different and better way.”

Messaging can change, but a different point of view is essential for organizational success.

Taking Back Control

At the end of the day, the company who defines the problem and designs the solution is best positioned to dominate the space.

These companies don't lead with chest-thumping branded campaigns.

They don’t force feed customers a list of product features and functions.

They don’t beg the customer to create their strategy for them.

They don’t talk, look, or act like everyone else, just a little bit “better.”

Instead, these companies set themselves apart by defining and evangelizing the problem they solve, pairing that problem with their solution.

Start Designing Your Category Today

Want to design and dominate your category? Here are 10 questions to get you and your leadership team started today:

1. What was the original insight that led you to create this company??
2. Who do you envision buying this product or service? Who will use it??
3. What’s the problem you think you can solve for your potential customers?
4. How does your product help the customer solve that problem??
5. What does your tech do today and what could it do tomorrow?
6. Who is solving a similar - or adjacent problem that could be part of the “product ecosystem” for your customer?
7. Who else is trying to, or could try to, solve this problem??
8. How will this change the way our customers do business??
9. Do we have the right go-to-market that works best for our customer? Are we ready for direct sales? Are we organized to run ABM??
10. What is our next funding event and how will that impact the category that we can build and own?

Winners don't mindlessly follow the leader or the thinking of the day; winners skate to where the puck is going, not where it is today.

Don't be one of many - another option in your customers' ever-growing list of options. Find a place where you can be one of a kind.

Build your company to be a lion, not one of the many fox.

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

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