How to Build a Unicorn Business One Small Step at a Time
I went to a private school in LA. There was a shed-like box with a roof about three to four feet off the ground. My friends and I would climb on top of the roof to play truth or dare, gossip, or talk about boys. On this particular day, it was truth or dare. I don’t remember anyone other than Betsy and I, but someone other than me asked her, “Truth or dare?” She replied truth. The other member of the rooftop club asked, “Have you ever peed and poo-ed at the same time?” I have no memory of what Betsy said next. But what struck me then and sticks with me 40-something years later is how odd that question was.
The person asking the question really wanted to know. Most likely, it happened to her earlier that day … she had that experience and wanted to know if she was weird. We all want to know if we’re weird. And when we’re little, we ask profound questions to test our weirdness.
As we get older, we stop asking questions. Instead, we check headlines, read articles, or watch TikTok videos. Truth and dare among eight-year-olds is a dinosaur’s game.
But the underlying sentiment is the same: Am I weird?
A 2022 study on advice sharing asked whether people shared advice to gain social influence or to blend in. The study found that we use “submissive strategies to avoid social conflict.” In essence, we don’t want to stand out from the crowd.
So, if we want to blend in, how do we make our brand stand out without drawing a lot of attention? The answer is baby steps.
Successful entrepreneurs make small tweaks to existing ideas to gain momentum and build traction.
Let’s use the history of electric vehicles (EVs) as an example. The first EV — a motorized carriage — was introduced in the 1830s. By 1841, a better EV was manufactured that could travel 1.5 miles at 4 mph … before a battery change! The invention of rechargeable batteries was still a long way out.
Fast-forward to the 21st century. The Nissan Leaf was introduced in 2011 and was the best-selling EV in January 2018.
The challenge was building an EV that could go the distance on a single charge. Chevy, followed by Tesla, introduced EVs that could go 200 and 300 miles on a single charge, respectively.
Here’s the interesting part. Tesla is the crown jewel of EVs. Chevy is not. Both Tesla and Chevy released their high-mileage EV cars in 2017. Both companies tweaked existing technology. One company just did it better. And by 2020, Tesla was #1.
In 2023, Tesla models held four of the top 15 spots for bestselling EVs. Tesla Model Y and Model 3 are #1 and #2. Chevy Bolt is #3.
But that’s not how the story began. The Roadster was Tesla’s first EV. And despite reports that it paved the way for Tesla’s subsequent vehicles, by all accounts it was a catastrophic failure. The only thing Tesla did right was establish an EV brand that was cool.
Be honest. Do you really want to meet the parents driving a Chevy Bolt over a Tesla Model 3?
The car company designed something consumers actually wanted.
Tesla came out of the gate with a shiny sports car: the Roadster got a lot of attention. But consumers weren’t ready for a sports car that ran on batteries, and the technology wasn’t there to support that kind of performance. While the novelty boosted sales, in the long run, it was too much too soon.
Tesla’s successful models represent a sleek body style (and a few other bells and whistles) over the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt — they look better. Tesla’s baby steps paid off, and each of its subsequent models got better.
To set yourself apart without being too weird, you need to ask a few questions:
- Who in your industry is leading the way?
- Why?
When you have the answers to these questions, emulate what they’re doing well and ask your customers what they could do better. Then do that.
You’re not looking for everything you can do better. You’re looking for one thing that will give you a competitive edge. This was Tesla’s hallmark strategy. They became real players in the automotive industry one model at a time.
That’s not jumping off the ledge. It’s pushing the limits based on a working model, testing the model, and pushing the limits again.
Consumers can get behind something that’s not too outlandish. Why? Because we don’t want to be weird.
The public was beginning to embrace the idea of EVs while Chevy and Nissan paved the way. People chasing shiny objects were able to get their feet wet before experiencing the nirvana of EVs: Tesla. Owning an electric car wasn’t weird anymore. But owning a luxury all-electric car…now that was something.
In the entrepreneurial version of truth or dare, choose truth, then dare to push the envelope one small step better at a time.