When you have someone who is willing to accomplish A without worrying about B and C, they will almost always defeat you in accomplishing A. Online, of course, this often leads to doom, since there are many organizations that are willing to get big at the expense of revenue, or writers willing to be noticed at the expense of ethics or reputation. But in the short run, the singleminded have a fantastic advantage. And sometimes, their singleminded focus on accomplishing just that one thing (whatever it is) pushes them through the Dip far ahead of you and then yes, they make a ton of money and you’ve lost forever.
As a service provider of sorts, this is yet another reminder to me that being unyielding in what I offer to my customers will unwittingly cause them to go elsewhere if I keep answering their requests with “No, but …”. The goal is to realistically provide them what they need (and shooting for what they want). If all you do is shut them down, they’re going to find someone who doesn’t have your hangups on providing the service.
