[Inverted Passion] Do what’s hard (because everyone’s doing what’s easy)

Do what’s hard (because everyone’s doing what’s easy)

By Paras Chopra on Aug 09, 2021 03:10 am

Business opportunities that seem easy, or those that require minimal effort or investment are easy for everyone (and not just you). Most people naturally gravitate towards work that’s easy, enjoyable, or sexy. This is why you have so many entrepreneurs make mobile apps because coding an app is fun and relatively easy. 

Appeal and competition is inversely related

Real advantage, however, lies in doing what others aren’t willing to do.  Such work is either really hard, or takes an enormous amount of time or requires enormous capital, or is extremely boring or is unsexy. The fewer number of competitors in these less popular domains usually translates into a much higher chance of building a profitable business.

A fantastic example of this is what Amazon does. They’ve focused on long-horizon investments into logistics, warehouses, and data centers which take decades to start producing a return. This long horizon requires patience and not all entrepreneurs or investors have it. But Jeff Bezos considers this lack of patience in other companies precisely his unfair competitive advantage.

In an interview, Bezos once said:

“If everything you do needs to work on a three-year time horizon, then you’re competing against a lot of people,”

This idea of long-term thinking as a competitive advantage is clear to Bezos from day 1. In his very first letter to Amazon shareholders in 1997, he said: “We believe that a fundamental measure of our success will be the shareholder value we create over the long term.” The reminder for long-term thinking is so important to him that this original 1997 letter gets included in all their annual shareholder letters. Given his fascination with long-term thinking,  it’s not surprising that he got a clock built that is designed to keep time for 10,000 years

Long-term thinking isn’t the only “hard” competitive advantage however it’s an important one because in a world where everyone is chasing short-term success. It lets you focus on doing really hard things over a period of time and hence eliminates competition for those projects. Other competitive advantages could be doing what’s unsexy or boring (like waste management, tax, and accounting, or mainframes). 

A word of caution: it’s easy to convince oneself that you’re long-term oriented or doing something that is hard while your actions gravitate towards short-term or easier stuff.

Remember: competitive advantage doesn’t come via doing what’s easy. It comes via things that others aren’t willing or able to do.

This essay is part of my book on mental models for startup founders.


Have any comments? Email me. And please share the essay if you liked it:



The post Do what’s hard (because everyone’s doing what’s easy) appeared first on Inverted Passion.


Read in browser »
share on Twitter Like Do what’s hard (because everyone’s doing what’s easy) on Facebook




Recent Articles:

Use all your unfair advantages
Your competitors are just like you: smart and hard-working
Compete on cost or quality. You can’t do both
Switching costs determine the valuation of your business
Commoditize your value chain before it commoditizes you
Copyright © 2021 Inverted Passion, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:
Inverted Passion
E-170 Antriksh Apartment Sector-14
Rohini
Delhi 110085
India

Add us to your address book


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp

Older messages

[Inverted Passion] Your competitors are just like you: smart and hard-working

Monday, July 12, 2021

Here's a new post on InvertedPassion.com Your competitors are just like you: smart and hard-working By Paras Chopra on Jul 11, 2021 08:39 am Entrepreneurs have to be confident in their abilities,

[Inverted Passion] Compete on cost or quality. You can’t do both

Monday, July 5, 2021

Here's a new post on InvertedPassion.com Compete on cost or quality. You can't do both By Paras Chopra on Jul 04, 2021 02:22 am Proven physical theories are called laws because they dictate how

[Inverted Passion] Commoditize your value chain before it commoditizes you

Monday, May 31, 2021

Here's a new post on InvertedPassion.com Commoditize your value chain before it commoditizes you By Paras Chopra on May 30, 2021 08:12 am End customers typically get value through a series of

[Inverted Passion] Solve the most important problem that you can personally impact

Friday, May 21, 2021

Here's a new post on InvertedPassion.com Solve the most important problem that you can personally impact By Paras Chopra on May 21, 2021 03:01 am Picking problems to solve is a function of

[Inverted Passion] [Podcast #10] We should explore new ways of funding science

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Here's a new post on InvertedPassion.com [Podcast #10] We should explore new ways of funding science By Paras Chopra on Mar 31, 2021 03:05 am The way science is funded today is broken. Writing

You Might Also Like

Addressing my Weaknesses — The Bootstrapped Founder 307

Friday, March 29, 2024

I'm a pretty okay developer, but when it comes to marketing and sales, I really need help. And for the longest time, I've held myself back. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

The Growth Newsletter #167

Friday, March 29, 2024

Wallet Opening Words that increase conversions ‌ ‌ ‌ Demand Curve Read on demandcurve.com The Growth Newsletter #167 Wallet Opening Words that increase conversions Copywriting is one of the most

The maturation of Munich

Friday, March 29, 2024

Does Europe need the "next Silicon Valley"? The frantic search for buried hydrogen and a big raise for industrial automation. View in browser Morgan Stanley flagship logo Good morning there,

Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users

Friday, March 29, 2024

The company's bet on AI boyfriends and other paywalled features is making some employees nervous Platformer Platformer Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users By Zoë Schiffer • 28 Mar 2024

Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users

Friday, March 29, 2024

The company's bet on AI boyfriends and other paywalled features is making some employees nervous Platformer Platformer Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users By Zoë Schiffer • 28 Mar 2024

SaaSHub Weekly - Mar 28

Thursday, March 28, 2024

SaaSHub Weekly - Mar 28 Featured and useful products Loach logo Loach Say goodbye to unachieved OKRs with Loach, an OKR management solution that empowers your team to seamlessly align their daily work

84 new Shopify apps for you 🌟

Thursday, March 28, 2024

New Shopify apps hand-picked for you 🙌 Week 12 Mar 18, 2024 - Mar 25, 2024 New Shopify apps hand-picked for you 🙌 What's New at Shopify? 🌱 New login requirements for the Order Status Page Changed ⸱

We've Been Tinkering

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Join Our Beta! ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

AMA with Chiedo John, Director of Growth @ GitHub

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Live on Wednesday, April 3rd, starting at 9 AM PST͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌

red hot startup intel

Thursday, March 28, 2024

FULL SWOT analysis on Ramp, Databricks, Cohere, Devoted Health, and Coalition inside Scouting Reports on 🔥 Startups Download Now Hi there, Psst. Want competitive intel on the top 5 industry leading