Beginning in 1848, three hundred thousand people from all over the world rushed to California in the great Gold Rush, braving long and dangerous trips and a lawless society once they arrived in the hope that they would strike it rich. The family of Levi Strauss ignored the gold but focused on providing the homeless miners with badly-needed (if mundane) dry goods and supplies.
More than a century and half later, descendants of Levi still populate the Board and ownership of Levi Strauss & Company, which has revenue of four and a half billion dollars. How many of those 300,000 miners do you suppose struck it rich, and of those how many successfully passed that wealth on to multiple generations?
In this century’s internet gold rush, the stories of Google, Amazon and Facebook are phenomenal, not only for the wealth they created but for their impact on society. Congratulations to those who pulled it off and to others who plan to be the next big thing – particularly in light of the hundreds of thousands of others who have tried and failed to do the same. Be aware, however, that there’s a fork in this road. You can go for the glory with a low-odds, high-risk, and high-profile “hail Mary”. Or you can march down the field and pick up yards, first downs, and points with good products, profit-optimizing pricing, focused sales and marketing, strong leadership, and tightly controlled costs. Because most of your competitors will run their companies less rigorously, a good (if more mundane) product plus superb execution can be a path to plenty of growth and plenty of riches.
The two approaches require very different personalities, objectives and risk profiles for their leader. Pick the one that feels right for you – but remember that both are very real options. Don’t be suckered into believing that there is only one fork in this road.
