Meet the market; don't force it.

“You have to meet the market where you find it — not where you’d like it to be” - founder of Whole Foods, John Mackey, when asked why he, as a vegan, sold meat, even when facing criticism from other vegans.

I think it’s an important lesson to keep in mind.

But I can assure we all will fail at it countless times ( I have).

In tech, folks get excited about the possibilities. And how things could be. That's what this industry is all about.

Yet the consumers usually don’t care (even when those consumers themselves work in tech. Trust me, been there)

You can try to educate a market about something you think will be better, but it will be hard and time-consuming, and people will resist it.

It's wiser to meet them where they are and slowly try to educate them.

But still, serving them the way they want to be served.

As John put it, “I like to say we’re always pushing our ideals, but always listening to our customers. It’s like a dialogue you’re having or a dance — if you don’t dance with your partner, your partner is going to dance away from you.”

Remember, people don’t want to be fit or eat healthy (Gym and Fish). They just want to be not fat and eat shamelessly (Ozempic).

And in business, above all, they don't want to get fired.

And they want to do their job visibly well, so they get promoted. And they don't want to get on the wrong side of office politics.

That's why things like Ozempic, supplements and attribution software print money.

Watch the video here:

Video source: @TKPPodcast @ShaneAParrish

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