"Stubborn visionaries & pigheaded fools: How do you know when to stop, versus when to push through?"
"The puzzle:"
"Scenario 1 (S1)"
"At time (A) you start an AdWords campaign."
"At time (B) it's obviously not working; a waste of time and money."
"...But you keep trying, and by time (C), it's working! You did it!"
"Scenario 2 (S2)"
"At time (A) you start an AdWords campaign."
"At time (B) it's obviously not working; a waste of time and money."
"...But you keep trying, and by time (C), it's still not working, and you've wasted even more time and money. What a waste!"
"We've all experienced both scenarios, not just in AdWords but in life in general."
"S1 we call 'success through perseverance,' and you've heard this echoed in many platitudes".
"S2 we call 'failure through obstinance,' and you've heard this echoed in many platitudes."
"How do you know, at time (B), which scenario you're in?" "You cannot know. Not for AdWords, not for product design, not for the vision of your company and the market you hope to create around it, not for almost anything, big or small. It all looks the same at point B. Venture capitalists don't know either, though it's their job to know."
