“Avoid getting into the business of manufacturing trombone oil. You may become the greatest manufacturer of trombone oil in the world, but in the end, the world only consumes a few quarts of trombone oil a year.”
Dan Burke’s famous note to Bob Iger does two things at once – beautifully.
First, it articulates a simple but powerful point that is relevant to anyone looking to build a company or a product- market size/potential matters.
Second, a note that said “Focus on projects with big market potential” or “Make sure the TAM/Total Addressable Market on your investments are large” would have been both boring and un-memorable.
Even if what we’re saying is incredibly valuable, how we say it can make or break its impact.
