Big-bang is dead. And its awfully obvious these days that Less can be a competitive advantage.

I have had a tough time explaining this. And it’s a pleasant surprise to see today that the guys at 37signals.com do get it.

Times have changed. All other people’s money gets you these days is into debt. And that’s not a great place to start anything from. You don’t need money for hardware — hardware is cheap. You don’t need money for software — software is free. You don’t need money for marketing — there are a variety of ways get your message out online to a huge audience for next to free. Money doesn’t buy you time and money doesn’t buy you passion (and passion is something you need a boatload of).


Four months back when I quit GE to bootstrap a startup, some people thought I had lost it completely. Luckily there were a lot many more who offerred their (extremely valuable) advice, and wished me luck. Some of them offerred their personal money, and some others have regularly kept checking to put me in touch with some VC they know. Every time I have been grateful to them for this, and have politely declined the offer.

No, I am not a filthy rich bugger. Neither am I a zen-master well on his way to nirvana. I just have had this simple rule of not taking extra money when I simply don’t have the need for it.

That also explains why all those Citibank sales agents have never managed to sell a cross-sell offer they made to me. I simply don’t need that sexy car, that elegant apartment, and those so-hip-they-hurt designer jackets. (By the way, do you think I should do them a favor by letting them know that I became immune to all those ‘incredible offers’ a long time back when I was employed with Citi? ;-) )

Do read on to see
Why is Less a Competitive Advantage?