The "we need to be different" crowd has gone too far.

Look, I get it. Being different is exciting. It's contrarian. It feels innovative.

But here's the truth: sometimes you just need to be better.

The tricky part? Knowing when to choose which path.

Here's how I think about it:

Be "better" when:

• Current solutions cause active pain

• Users are already looking for alternatives

• The category is immature and/or still evolving

• Switching costs are relatively low

Be "different" when:

• The market leader is truly loved by customers

• Switching costs are high

• The category is mature and stable

• Users have strong habits built around existing solutions

Let me give you some real examples...

Look at what's happening right now in AI video generation. Companies like OpenAI (Sora) and Google (Veo 2) aren't trying to be dramatically different from each other—they're racing to be better at generating high-quality, realistic video from text prompts.

Why? Because this category is brand new. Users are actively comparing outputs, looking for the best quality. The technology is evolving rapidly. And since nobody has ingrained habits yet (the category basically just emerged), being "better" is exactly what the market needs.

Contrast this with Canva.

They entered a mature market dominated by Adobe. But instead of trying to build a marginally better design tool, they created something fundamentally different—reimagining design for non-designers. Smart move, because Adobe was deeply loved by its core users and those users had years of muscle memory built up.

The most interesting part? Neither approach is inherently superior. It all depends on your market context.

So next time someone insists "we need to be different to win," ask yourself: Is this actually what the market needs? Or are we just afraid of the hard work of being genuinely better?

JUICY SCOOPS 🧃

What caught my attention

"Let the cars sell themselves"

That's what Tesla said as they cut their sales team in 2024.

Interesting timing considering:

• It's their first annual sales drop in over a decade

• Competition in the EV space is heating up

• Ford and GM are expanding their EV lines

• Rivian and Lucid are gaining traction

The weirdest part? While Lucid and Rivian are building their sales teams (expected for newer players), Tesla is cutting more aggressively than fellow behemoths like Ford and GM.

My prediction? We'll see Tesla quietly ramping up sales hires in the next few months.

EXAMPLES 🍊

Your weekly dose of vitamin C(ompete)

Love what Basecamp did in their new “people’s path” page below.

Instead of pushing traditional comparison pages, they're acknowledging and empathizing with the real customer journey—that people often try multiple tools before finding the right fit.

It's authentic, relatable, and positions Basecamp as the final destination without being aggressive about it. Competitive marketing at its finest.

Stay Healthy, my friends.

💚Andy