CTAs: Five Reasons to Take on AQR, PIMCO Etc.

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There’s a whole big world out there not talking about financial markets and different ways to access them all day. Whether we’re reading the Oatmeal or watching a John Oliver clip, it’s good to take a break every now and then. And yet, even when you’re taking a break, you sometimes get dragged right back into your world (in a good way).

Case and point today, the following post from Alex Turnball, CEO of Groove, talking about not being afraid of competing against goliaths. He could have just as easily been talking about not being afraid to compete with Winton or AQR or Pimco, or outlining why investors don’t need to be afraid to look outside of those goliath boxes.

Enjoy the full post here, or are abridged version below:

5 Reasons To Avoid Going Up Against Goliath

1) Goliath has more money than you

“If only we had a million bucks, we could…”

2) Goliath has a bigger team than you

To Goliath, another team member is a drop in the bucket.

3) Goliath is more well-known than you

They own whatever you do in the market’s mind. When they think[Goliath].

4) Goliath has more recruiting power than you

Goliath’s Office

Office CTAs AQR

5) Goliath is more comfortable than you

They’re coasting. They have years of runway, safe recurring revenue, a strong brand and customers for life. They have nothing to worry about today.

You’re wondering if you’ll make it through the week. For some, that kind of pressure brings out the best. For others, it’s what brings them crashing down.

Five Reasons You Can Still Kick Goliath’s Ass

1) Goliath leaves a lot of customers behind

Goliath was once a startup, focused on building the best damn product in the industry. Then they got traction. Then they grew big. Then they built out a sales force, and an executive suite, and other expensive things.

They had to pay for these, and simply bringing in new customers wasn’t going to cut it. So they focused on growing the product. Adding features, ancillary products and bundles that they could upsell customers on in order to increase their average revenue per user. The product got bloated, and they stopped focusing on the core product that they launched with. It’s no longer the best.

A lot of customers, especially smaller ones, see that, and don’t like the new direction.They feel left behind, and they want a better solution, like the one Goliath was before they became Goliath.

2) Goliath doesn’t do things that don’t scale

do things that don’t scale. Things that your larger competitors aren’t able – or willing – to do. You, the founder, can spend time talking to every single customer to ensure that what you’re building is exactly what people want.

3) Goliath isn’t as nimble as you

Need to make a change to your strategy? You can make that change (or start making that change) today.

Goliath can’t. They have tedious processes and a corporate culture that disincentivizes rocking the boat.

4) Goliath can’t screw up

For an established company in the public eye, a screwup is a huge disaster. An outage? A lawsuit? A security breach?

But for you, the startup? You’ve spent countless hours building one-on-one relationships with your customers. They know you personally. They trust you. And they recognize that you’re the little guy. They want you to win.

A screwup is bad, for sure. But your customers will forgive you and forget about it a lot faster and more easily than Goliath’s customers.

5) Goliath can’t recruit the hungry ones

Yes, Goliath has more money and perks. But they can’t feed the hunger.

That hunger for being scrappy? For building something from nothing? For fearlessly walking into the same room as Goliath, and knowing that you’re going to kick their ass – and change your life in the process – or die trying?

Doesn’t Work For Goliath

 

To read the full article, click here.

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