I just finished reading Alexa Clay & Kyra Maya Phillips tour de force, The Misfit Economy.
(Yes that’s an affiliate link. The first one I’ve ever posted on this blog. If you like the book, please 🙂 buy through my link. )
I have to admit I was surprised & delighted by the book.
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Alexa & Kyra offer us a tantalizing question. Could it be that we could learn a lot from oddball innovators at the edge of the economy? When I say edge, I really mean it. She interviews Sam Hostetler who is building a business around milking camels, and then there’s Abdi Hasan a pirate from Galkayo northern Somalia. Yeah really! Or what about the German copycats Wimdu who built a complete replica of Airbnb by reverse engineering it.
1. Hack the cold call
Take the example of Lance Weiler. Early on the industry was very against digital. They didn’t see it as really making films.
“Part of [Lance] Weiler’s success was due to his ability to work the system. He wrote letters to major production companies telling them he wanted to make the first digital motion picture. After he didn’t hear back, he took a page from the con man’s handbook and wrote the same letters but intentionally misaddressed them so they were sent to the wrong companies. Sony for example would get a letter intended for Barco.”
He was later able to bring digital projection to Cannes & Sundance!
“For Weiler his big epiphany was when he realized he could be creative across all of it [the business]. Not just in the art product, but in financing, distribution, and business aspects of artistic production.”
Related: The art of resistence or when you have to be the bad guy
2. Copy the product
The german brothers Oliver, Marc & Alexander Samwer make a superb example of how copying can bring building prowess to compete against innovators that were first to market.
“in 1998 Marc Samwer had an instinct that eBay would thrive in the German market… his brothers agreed… they contacted eBay via email numerous times, recommending that the company replicate it’s platformin Germany. Claiming that eBay failed to respond, the brother’s started their own German-language auction site, Alando, which was then purchased by eBay for 38 million euros (over $50 million) only 100 days after it’s debut. Had the Samwers not copied, eBay might have remained complacent, not realizing its potential within the german market.”
Although not mentioned in the book, Inditex the wildly successful firm behind fashion brand Zara did much the same thing to the fashion industry. By mastering the supply chain, they enabled their company to take designs from the runway & replicate them, turning designs into real clothing in stores, in just two weeks! And indeed they really do replicate, borrow & straight copy those designs from what they see at fashion week. Sad & brilliant at the same time.
Related: When you have to take the fall
3. Don’t forget to hustle
“In the lexicon of the Misfit Economy, we define “hustle” as making something out of nothing. To move fast, to trade one thing for another, and to proactively create your own opportunities rather than waiting for opportunity to come your way. To hustle means getting your hands dirty, being lean and facile, working hard, being resourceful and resilient, and showing or having gumption, chutzpah, or mojo.”
And after all, isn’t that everything the startup industry aspires to? Agile teams? Growth hackers? Scrappy startups & innovation?
Related: When clients don’t pay