Focus
The Future of Your Company Depends on It
by Al Ries · first published 1996
4mentions
3recommended by
3HN commenters
2010–2024first – last mentioned
100% recommend
The author argues that pointless mergers and acquisitions in the name of growth often blur a company's "focus"--the category a product or service occupies in the customer's mind.
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Instead of blogs with marketing intent, founders should read the two things that matter most: Four Steps to Epiphany Crossing the Chasm Nothing beats those even today. Maybe include Focus by Al Ries also.
on “What are founders reading on Customer Discovery, Acquisition, and Development” ↗…time again to be toxic for businesses and Google's bevy of marginal non-search projects seem only to reinforce that this is accurate. Al Ries has dedicated an influential book to the subject called "Focus" and I've seen the damage line-extension can cause first hand in businesses I've worked in and invested in. Considering the variety of points of view this comment spurred, I was suprised to see it =…
on “Google To Launch Amazon S3 Competitor ‘Google Storage’ At I/O” ↗…probably relegated to my subconscious. I'm actually thinking of going back and trying to think of 3 things from each book I've read previously that I can now record. This morning I finished the book Focus by Al Ries. It's good. Here are the 3 things I learnt (recorded upon finishing in Evernote): 1. Focused companies are more profitable. 2. Brand extension is bad. 3. Focus may cause shrinkage in the short…
on “Lifehack question: How do you read a business book?” ↗…built, that in turn should generate the referrals rather, perhaps more so than the initial buzz of working directly with 37signals people, so I guess this makes sense. I've always seen 37signals as a very focused company, and this spin off enables them to focus back on their core business. I just finished reading Focus by Al Ries, hence this is top of mind, but 37signals seem the masters of relentless focus…
on “Know Your Company grows up and moves out” ↗