Seth Godin

some axes for you to choose from

The questions that someone who cares about affiliation asks himself and those around him:

Who knows you?

Who trusts you?

Have you made things better?

What is your circle like?

Where do you stand within the tribe?

Can’t we all get along?

Affiliation or dominance is up to the customer, not you

The way you see the world isn’t nearly as important as the worldview of those you seek to serve.

As we’ve seen, their worldview is always stronger than the story you choose to tell.

I’d divide the modern business plan into five sections:

Truth

Assertions

Alternatives

People

Money

Footnote if you want to, but tell me about the market you are entering, the needs that exist, the competitors in your space, technology standards, and how others have succeeded and failed in the past.

The point of this section is to be sure that you’re clear about how you see the world, and that you and I agree on your assumptions. This section isn’t partisan—it takes no positions; it just states how things are.

The only reason to launch a project is to make change, to make things better, and we want to know what you’re going to do and what impact it’s going to have.

We will do X, and then Y will happen. We will build Z with this much money in this much time. We will present Q to the market, and the market will respond by taking this action.