4 expensive lessons *I* learned the hard way—so *you* don't have to

Lesson 1: Do less. Better.

Lesson 1: Do less. Better.

The common wisdom these days is to diversify. To build multiple revenue streams. To do more.

Buying into that B.S. has always gotten me into trouble.

Stop chasing every new project—it's not just stealing your time, it's stealing your chance of success.

The people pushing the "do everything" and "be everywhere" narratives?

They have 30-person teams (or monetary incentives to present that solution as the solution).

When you find something that's working, don’t jump to diversify. Double-down. Then double-down some more.

__ Lesson 2: Forget trend-chasing. Focus on what doesn't change.

Jeff Bezos built Amazon on a simple truth: People will always want lower prices, faster delivery, and better selection.

That stuff won’t change.

The same emotional triggers that made people buy 100 years ago still work today.

While everyone else chases trends, bet on human nature:

• Social proof? Still works.

• Fear of missing out? Still works.

• The desire to belong? Timeless.

Platforms change and tools evolve. But human psychology?

That's your constant.

__ Lesson 3: The best products don't win—the products with the best messaging do

I've watched brilliant products fail while mediocre ones sell like hot-cakes.

The difference? It’s rarely the product quality. It’s the story.

Humans don't make rational decisions. We make emotional ones and backfill the logic later.

Your customers aren't searching long and hard for solutions and endlessly comparing features.

They're asking: "Do I trust this? Do I get this? Do I want to be part of this?"

Master your message and you can own your market.

||| This next lesson is uncomfortable... but it's so f*cking true. |||

__ Lesson 4: The messenger matters more than the message

Who says something matters more than what is being said.

You've seen this play out hundreds of times...

The same pitch, delivered by different people, gets wildly different results.

We like to think we judge ideas on merit. We don't. We judge them based on:

• Who's sharing them

• How much we trust them

• Whether we want to be like the person sharing the message

This is why a trusted creator can launch a simple product and make millions, while an unknown genius with a better solution often struggles to get noticed.

It's not fair. But it's reality.

Focus on becoming someone worth listening to... and everything else becomes easier.

Thanks Katelyn.

Author

AiUTOMATING PEOPLE, ABN ASIA was founded by people with deep roots in academia, with work experience in the US, Holland, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam. ABN Asia is where academia and technology meet opportunity. With our cutting-edge solutions and competent software development services, we're helping businesses level up and take on the global scene. Our commitment: Faster. Better. More reliable. In most cases: Cheaper as well.

Feel free to reach out to us whenever you require IT services, digital consulting, off-the-shelf software solutions, or if you'd like to send us requests for proposals (RFPs). You can contact us at [email protected]. We're ready to assist you with all your technology needs.

© ABN ASIA