It can’t just be “better.”

When I first started building products, I focused on problems that were “solved,” but not well; solutions met the bar, but didn’t go much further. I thought that if I spent my time building products that I could make 10% better (prettier, faster, cheaper) — I would win. You do the math: 10 + 1 > 10.

I got a quick education in the matter: that doesn’t work. You can’t make stuff that’s just “better” and expect to win.

It’s not actually their product versus your product. It’s your product versus a brand that their customers are invested in. It’s your product versus a product that they have spent dozens of hours or thousands of dollars integrating into her workflow.

But most of all, it’s trying out something new versus the cognitive inertia of someone who has already committed to using an existing product or service.

But it turns out, not all hope is lost. Change does happen, you just have to fight for it. There are ways.

Make it a lot better.

Making something 10% better is not enough. It may convince a couple, but it won’t typically lead to adoption at any sense of scale. There is a number, but it’s higher than 10% — maybe 1,000%. This isn’t new; I think Bezos who first said that Amazon would only work if they were 10x better than the brick-and-mortar bookstore experience. Being 10x better is being fundamentally better.

More importantly — different.

Markets change gradually; not at once. Windows of opportunity don’t burst open but slowly expose themselves. Things like consumer behavior, infrastructure cost, the number of people with smart phones. If you’re three guys with an idea, it is hard to beat a mighty incumbent by taking advantages of marginal changes in the market or available technology — they can do the same.

Instead of competing in the same direction as everyone else, products that win take on a different approach to a problem. Build a different solution, rather than a better one.

Timing matters.

Attack a problem where decisions are already being reevaluated. Don’t force change, just look for it. It’s much easier to push a boulder that’s already rolling.

Attack when the default behavior behind a certain intention (sharing news, distributing content, turning an intent into a purchase) is changing.

This is hard for a reason.

When I first started making stuff, things didn’t stick right away. I blamed myself and my lack of an ability to ship products that were actually useful. Then I got frustrated at the market — their lives could be better if only they were more open!

But now I think I am closer to getting it — there is so much stress, effort, and risk with switching. How often do I switch what I do? How often do you?

When was the last time you walked into a Safeway and tried out a new drink? I can’t remember when I did. Predictability is the most useful (and underrated!) attribute of a product, and only products you are already using qualify. A new product has a percentage change of some incremental benefit — and that’s it.

That is the battle that every new product fights.