Domination seldom works.

Your ego will tell you to go for world domination; however, it takes guts to focus on the smallest viable market.

The biggest mistake I made in my early entrepreneurial life was not to focus more on my customers’ needs. Instead, for me, it was all about my product and, ultimately, my ego.

I frequently see the same kind of foolishness when talking to young (and sometimes seasoned) entrepreneurs. They’ve read The Lean Startup, and they know the definition of a minimum viable product by heart. However, when you ask which fraction of their universe they are targeting, they will quickly point to everyone and anyone.

And then they are surprised that their message does not resonate with anybody.

“Your customers don’t care about you. They don’t care about your product or service. They care about themselves, their dreams, their goals. Now, they will care much more if you help them reach their goals, and to do that, you must understand their goals, as well as their needs and deepest desires.” — Steve Jobs

Bottom line: Go and find the smallest part of the universe in which you are playing and delight the hell out of them. Beware, it takes guts to focus.