Recently I took part in my first podcast. Near the end of it, I somewhat accidentally made a point that's bounced around in my head for a while - and I wanted to explain it and flesh it out.
The single biggest advantage, in my opinion, that a small company has over a large one is that the user is priority 1. Small companies have to make something useful and interesting, and make it fast. Big companies have a lot of mouths to feed, and as such are prone to being risk-averse.
If a big company releases a product that sucks, or fails to meet an announced release date, or releases something with security problems - the press will be there in force, and there will be layoffs, blame,
and stockholder meetings. When a stealth mode startup does something
stupid, nobody notices.
This is why startups can always make the user their first priority. A
big company has to make not screwing up their first priority. If the
right choice for the user involves substantial technology risk, the
big company usually won't go there until they're dragged there.
Because if that risk doesn't pay off, they're going to be embarrassed.
And embarrassment is scarier than releasing a less interesting
product.
As a startup, you have to beat the brand name recognition and PR
departments of your big company competitors by releasing a product
that is blindingly useful and fun to use. So the right choice for a
startup is always to take the technology risk because if it pays off,
they have a chance to survive to take another risk.
This is why indie music is almost always more interesting than pop.
Local restaurants will be more interesting than chains. And startup
products will be more interesting than corporations. Not always
better - but at least more interesting.
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