“If you think a competitor sucks, say so. When you do that, you’ll find that others who agree with you will rally to your side. Being the anti-______ is a great way to differentiate yourself and attract followers.” REWORK, p. 141
Everyone like to see a fight. It doesn’t matter if its physical…if its bloodshed we want to be there.
Great startups use the strategy of picking fights time and time again:
- Jezebel picked a fight when they called the Daily Show sexist.
- Posterous picked a fight with Tumblr…telling Tumblr users they need to graduate to Posterous (ooooooooooh!!!!)
- Apple took great pop-shots at Microsoft in the late 90′s
- 50 Cent took swings when he was just starting out: he wrote a song about robbing other rappers
Now to be honest, fighting the Ivan Drago’s or Goliaths of the world does and doesn’t work. With the previous four examples:
- Jezebel’s post got over 211,00 page views, 1,000 comments, and a sharp retort from the ladies of the Daily Show
- For all its talk Posterous still got spanked in usage and growth
- Well…we know how THAT worked out
- The rappers got mad, fired back (the most famous being Jay-Z), and according to 50 it was the “best thing” that happened
Jesus Picked Fights
Jesus picked many a fight in His day. His fights were always with the ruling religious and political powers that were. While starting up and gathering momentum He’d say things like:
“But I warn you — unless you obey God better than the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees do, you can’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven at all!” (Matthew5: 20 NLT)
“And now about prayer. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get.” (Matthew 6:5 NLT)
“Now Jesus turned to address His disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. ‘The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.’” (Matthew 23: 1-3 MSG)
“So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked Him, ‘Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old customs? For they eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.’ Jesus replied, ‘You hypocrites!” (Mark 7: 5-6 NLT)
You don’t say things like that!! To the establishment! Stuff like that gets you in trouble with them; puts you on the out and out.
But it gains you a great following.
So what do you think? Is a picking a fight a great strategy?
Image by Darren Hardy
This post was written by...
Michael – who has written 77 posts on The Simple Strategies for Startups Blog.
Michael is the an author, blogger, and speaker, Why not give me a shout on Google
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
You are a heretic Mr. Holmes!!
The fact that you could portray Jesus and the Word of God just show how far you've strayed…IF you were ever a Christian at all!
Did you even read the entirety of the article? Mike pointed to specific points in the Bible where Jesus opposed the orthodox traditions of religious people (mostly pharisees), so did that make Jesus a heretic or the truth? I'll take, "the truth for 500 Alex!"
Mike didn't portray Jesus and the Word in any light other than the way it is and I commend him for showing us another way to be successful Biblically in business.
Thanks Rod! However, the Bishop is entitled to his opinions…I can't stop him for how he feels
Well thank you for your honesty Bishop…you are entitled to your opinion
Can you expound on the your findings that Mike is a heretic? I fail to see your point.
You should be ashamed of yourself! Diluting the Word of God in this manner
Can you give a specific way in which the Word was diluted or did you just read the title and post a comment?
I really liked this. This really gives a fresh contemporary perspective on Jesus, the Bible…. and starting fights lol. I do have to agree with Heather though…I would have loved more specifics.
Good job though
Thanks Warren…I'm thinking of a follow up as we speak
I'm with you Heather
I don't think just picking a fight alone will do it. Cause you could run the risk of getting "knocked out." I think it it more about being different and yes pointing out the flaws and then filling it. Also, its really about can you back up your talk…cause if not…
I LOVE Jezebel!!!!
Its not really my thing…but it is provocative
Mike,
I see what you're triyng to do and I want to commend you. The fact that you can apply the Bible to the world of startups is amazing…and in such an understandable. I grew up with the Bible being some "thou art" "thou shalt not" kind of thing. You make it very understandble and practical an I do again commend your efforts
Thank you Amy. I do appreciate that.
It's always been my desire to merge the wisdom of the Bible with the practices of Business. I believe in that Book holds all the answers to the questions of life. And if I could do my part in making it relevant to those who've never heard of it…I will have done my part in this life
Mike, it was a thought provoking post man. The fact that you ruffled a few feathers means you're on the right track. Don't let the ignorance of a few hinder the teaching of many. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Rod! Man I appreciate the "rescue effort" lol. Not everybody will agree but its not going to slow me down one bit. Personally, their critiques just keep me closer to the foot of the Cross
I think further you should pick fights in this case that you know you can win. Certainly, Posterous didn't follow that advice, and I fear others will do the same. Clearly, taking the opposing view is a popular way to attract people to your site, however, you can't always be a contrarian, otherwise you'll alienate everyone eventually.
And thank you as well Carol…for your honesty
It actually is a good idea for a follow up. I was thinking that as I was writing it. I was even thinking about adding more but I wanted to keep it short.
Thanks for your suggestion
True….absolutely true. No sense in mouthing off to a guy who you know can shut it.
Personally, I think its a minefield that needs to navigated carefully and only when you see weaknesses. Apple could do it cause they saw weaknesses, 50 cause he saw weaknesses, and etc.
The ones that have really succeeded in it were those who picked fights they knew they could win.
Oh…I saw you comment on LinkedIn. I really wish they had that feature too
Simply put, I believe picking a fight doesn't have to be the literal sense , but maybe more of identify your competitive advantage/value proposition. I'll use banks as example, banks right now have no creditibilty with consumers, people today don't trust banks(big banks) because they feel they are sneeky etc. Ally, is a new bank which seem like a crazy time to start a bank after all this mess, but they kinda of picked a fight. they offer the same products but said "you can trust us, we don't hide anything". because of that it enables them to get their foot in the door, to have people choose them vs others simply based on solving a problem of today's market which is trust inside the banking world.
So, sum it all up. A start up to jump saying they are better then competitors because they add more value. that's just how I would do. I'm not much of a confrontation dude b/c my thoughts is while those two companies are battle, some slick start up may slip in the back…lol and knock us both out the water.
Great points Pedro!
It's funny you say that cause I think the ONLY times you should pick fights is:
1. When you can back it up
2. You're ready for the return shots
What's so great is that Jesus could pick fights: He could back up His claims and He was ready for whatever they threw.
I'm glad you enjoyed the post!
I'm not a big fan or 50 or his music but I do respect his hustle. It's funny the more I use these "secular" people to explain these Biblical truths I reminded that Jesus did the exact same thing. He used very base and common stories in order to communicate truth to those who wanted to hear it. So, if I have to use the example of a porn star I think I might…as long as when people unwrap the story they see the power and simplicity of God's Word.
Thanks for defending me back there
SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL WHO THINK THAT PICKING A FIGHT IS GOOD IF THE DEVIL BE IN YOU ,THE ONE WHO IS LIVING FOR JESUS JUST LIVE BEFOR MAN IN HIS(JESUS) IMAGE AND THE ENEMY WILL COME OUT. YOU DON'T NEED TO PICK A FIGHT THAT'S JUST BEING A DUMMY.CAN SATAN CAST OUT SATAN ? NO HE CAN NOT SO WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE WHEN PICKING A FIGHT ????
BY THE WAY WHAT DO YOU ALL SAY ABOUT A BULLY. THEY PICK FIGHTS FOR NO REASON IS THAT GOOD?
Thank you Kimberly for your honesty and strong opinion.
There is a lot that can be gleamed here. The pharisees considered themselves the gatekeepers – no one could go through without them. Jesus knew and understood the word and did not go to them for the interpretation. That in and of itself is picking a fight. Jesus showed understanding of God's word and showed results. Pharisees followed their own made up rules (traditions of men), showed no results, and gave no reason why there were no results. That in an of itself is picking a fight. If you're going to stand for something other than what the acclaimed gatekeepers do, you are by default going to pick a fight.
See I told you I love it when you stop by! Great insight as always Mak…never saw it like that
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