"Fuck you" companies

Be different first, then better

Why do we make money?

Better asked: Why do we want to make a lot of money?

Many soon-to-be-founders will be reserved and reply: for freedom. For autonomy. For impact.

Yet, more often than not these are just fancy ways of saying: I just wanna be able to say “Fuck you”.

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Now let me put all the vulgar language aside and tell you why you are reading this.

This is a framework on how to create the value proposition of your startup.

I will simply argue that all successful companies adopt this framework to reach escape velocity.

Let’s start.

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Before I piss you off by trying to be a know-it-all and creating a universal truth on how to build a company as if I am Peter Thiel, let me say this: Yes there are many exceptions.

Yes, I might be wrong.

However, you and I, as founders, cannot side with exceptions.

There are no exceptions to the rule that everybody likes to be an exception to the rule.

Charles Osgood

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Here is how I will structure this to convince you to just say “Fuck you” to someone:

1. What kills startups

   1. Nobody cares

   2. Examples

2. What makes startups

   1. “A fuck you”

   2. Examples

3. A “fuck you” is a start

What kills a startup?

Nobody cares

Anyone who pitched a VC, has heard that partner look at you with dead eyes and say: that’s too competitive. It is a red ocean.

Yet, I am yet to see a startup that has been killed by competition. Like truly killed.

Startups are killed by one thing: Inertia.

Simply, nobody cares. They don’t care because you’re solving a problem that doesn’t exist, or worse - you’re just slightly better at something that already works fine.

This might be due to multiple things but here are some reasons nobody cares:

… because noone needs it

Simply no one needs it. It does not solve an existing problem rather it is inventing a problem and trying to solve it.

… because it is better

You think your product is better, right? More features, better design, fast.

Well guess what: nobody cares. Everyone says they are the best or better than the next competitor.

When you are different enough, customers don’t even ask you about the competition.

If they did, they already made up their minds. It’s already too late.

Examples

Quibi (2020) They raised $1.75 billion. Launched with every Hollywood connection. The pitch? Premium short-form video for mobile. Better than YouTube because it’s professionally produced. Better than Netflix because it fits your commute.

Nobody cared. Dead in 6 months.

They didn’t say fuck you to anything. They said “we’re better at mobile video.” YouTube already worked fine. Netflix already worked fine. Quibi was just... more. More polished. More expensive. More nothing.

Google+ (2011) Google spent years building a “better Facebook.” Cleaner design. Circles for organizing friends. Hangouts for video. Better privacy controls.

Nobody switched. Shut down in 2019.

Being better at social networking misses the point. Facebook won because everyone was already there. Google+ needed to say fuck you to “the network is the product” - but they just built another network and said “ours is nicer.”

You might think the examples here are not really startups. You are correct. However, you see this kind of a startup everyday, eventually just becoming obscure in a dark hole because nobody simply cared.

What makes a startup?

This is the trillion dollar question. Here it is:

A solution to an existing problem solved weirdly different, simple and clear way.

For those who like bullet points:

1. Existing problem - people already feel the pain but might not be aware of it

2. Weirdly different - not better, different

3. Simple - obvious once you see it

4. Clear - “how” is obvious

Examples

Uber What is Uber? It is a taxi company. Really think about it. At the end of the day, it just takes from a place to another place on demand. For money. The rest does not matter to the customer that much.

That is in fact why we had taxis since 1605.

Now Uber comes along and just says: Fuck you. To taxis.

1. What does Uber do?

   1. It simply creates a marketplace of cars for hire instead of from taxis and solve the same problem we had for over 400 years

More importantly though:

2. What does Uber NOT do?

   1. Just create a taxi company that values customer experience more, raise a bunch of funding and go after all the taxis in New York

3. What did this fuck you bring?

Well, it removed the driver’s power to reject you. It made price transparent. It weaponized accountability through ratings.

A simple, clear and ambitious “Fuck you” to taxi industry as a whole.

Airbnb: Same story played out with Airbnb where a “fuck you” to the hotels and hostels made the company.

Crypto: Crypto as a whole is a “fuck you” to the entire financial services industry. And a good one (born out of 2008 crisis).

Charles Schwab: The entire brokerage industry was built on fat commissions and human to human handholding. Charles Schwab came in and said “Nah, it just costs $29 to get your index funds and stocks, the rest is on us.”

Bolt, Lovable, Replit: They are all a big “Fuck you” to the no-code, low-code website or app builders out there.

AI & LLMs: A big “Fuck you” to the knowledge worker from the guy who does your taxes to the guy who writes emails everyday.

Tesla: Simply against the old way of using and manufacturing cars

A “fuck you” is a start

Being different is often not enough. It is a start. Not the endgame.

The way you are different should be better than what is out there.

However the problem nowadays is that no startup tries to be different at all. Instead they start by being better.

Difference for the sake of it in everything.”

James Dyson

• When Uber first launched, the feedback from many was “Oh I am gonna let some random guy drive me places? No way”

• When Airbnb was a mere idea, no investor liked it. Simply because they thought no one would want to stay at some random person’s house - which makes sense!

All these solutions proved to be better than the old way of doing things.

Did they kill the old way completely? No!

Because competition rarely kills anyone. Inertia does.

They simply carved out big real estate for themselves in huge markets and became way bigger than any of the incumbents they said a big “Fuck you” to.

And that is what startups are about.

Worst case, you can:

1. First figure out a way to be radically different

2. Get the attention (and make some enemies)

3. Figure out what would be better for the customer

4. Act on it

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So ask yourself: Who do you wanna say “Fuck you” the most in the world?