In the book Chasing Cool, Noah Kerner and Gene Pressman talk about the intrinsic value of authenticity.  They point out that brands like Apple, Grey Goose and Target all seem to own their respective categories from one simple concept - they are fundamentally authentic.  By contrast, many brands try to copy them and fail miserably because they are not the real thing.

Or said differently - if you're not authentic, you will probably fail.  And you probably should.

I've seen this first hand in the 10 companies that I've started.  Whenever a concept or idea was new and innovative (authentic and real) we did really well.

Whenever we stole someone else's idea, we bit it hard.

Keeping it Real

In the wonderful world of the Web, we see this all the time.

Someone comes up with an authentic idea (Digg, Craigslist, eBay) only to be copied over and over by every idiot with an HTML editor.  They assume that if they simply copy the idea and build a clone of a site, they'll share the same success.

For every site I've ever done I've seen clones of what I've done.  At Swapalease.com we had a new company just about every month try to clone what we did (which seems easy on its face) and fail miserably. 

Now with Go BIG we're getting a whole list of clone sites.  All you need to do is hop on Rent-a-Coder, do a keyword search for your company, and you'll probably find someone trying to replicate your concept.

But don't sweat it.  There is no replacement for the real thing - the original.  Don't worry about the clones.  Worry about those that have an original idea that's better than yours.  Those will be few and far between, but trust me, those are the companies to be worried about.

Authenticity Matters

The mistake entrepreneurs make is thinking that just copying an idea will make it useful.  But customers don't think like that, as much as you'd assume otherwise.

Your customer can tell the difference between the real thing and a fake - your authenticity matters.

For example, how many people have tried to copy the iPod?  On its face, it's a really easy concept to replicate.  I would even argue that Apple really didn't innovate much at all, they just wrapped a commodity product in a better package. 

Yet after endless attempts by Sony, Creative, Microsoft, and dozens of other big players, no one seems to have built the following and name recognition of the iPod - not even close.  Why?

Because Apple created an authentic brand that defined it's customer - cool, unique, and hip - you wanted to own an iPod.  The authenticity of the brand made the product better. 

While Apple did indeed copy the concept of the mp3 player, they created an authentic brand that made it unique. 

Think about your own product.  Is it authentic?  Does it have it's own definition, voice and brand that resonates with your customers?  Or is it just a me-too product with a different logo?

Strip it Down

We think about this a lot at Go BIG.  We think about what we're doing that is uniquely us, and what we're doing that someone else is probably better suited for.

For example, you don't see a lot of "start your own franchise!" content on Go BIG.  It's not because there aren't people who want to start a franchise at Go BIG.  It's because it's not what we're about.  It's not authentic to our brand.

Consider our voice.  This blog is by all means our voice (or at least mine).  It's not overwhelmingly positive as much as it's pragmatic.  And that's what our readers dig.  I get more feedback about how much people like a no b/s blog than people who say "you should be more uplifting."

The blog is who we are - it's what we're about.  You may love it or hate it, but it's undeniably authentic to Go BIG.  And for that reason, people are attracted to it.

So we spend a lot of time not adding to Go BIG, but stripping away.  We try lots of new stuff, but we consistently dump the ideas that aren't authentic.  We can't compete at them.

If we've learned one lesson, it's that what's not authentic is not worth doing.  I hope you come to the same conclusion.