“Star Wars on Earth”
That was the initial four-word summary of Top Gun, in the mind of its producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
I’ve read much of Hollywood works this way.
Take an existing successful idea… combine it with something else… and boom, you got yourself the next Avatar (“Dances with Wolves in space”).
James Altucher calls this idea sex.
It’s not just a way to make the next Hollywood blockbuster. It’s also a great way to come up with new business ideas. For example:
I once found the “S&P 500 of the vacation rental industry.” The company is called AirDNA, and just from that short description, it’s pretty clear what it does. From what I could find, AirDNA revenue was $8 million a year.
Instacart was “Uber for groceries.” So much so that last year, when Uber launched its grocery delivery service Cornershop, Instacart sued. No wonder Instacart is feeling territorial. The 2020 valuation for Instacart was over $13 billion.
But what if you’ve already got a business are you’re not looking to launch a new idea?
You might still be able to use idea sex to give your business better positioning.
Just look for an analogy. Ask yourself what your business is similar to, or could be similar to.
“The Best Buy of the adult industry.”
“The Louis Vuitton of festivals.”
“The Nike of e-sports.”
You might have to change what you do a bit… or drop some things you thought were core to your business.
But do it right, and you will have powerful positioning. And that means you will make more money, with less work.
Ok, so much for positioning. Now on to the pitch:
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