Copying

I remember copying answers during exams from my classmate sitting behind me in 8th grade. I didn’t really do very well in those exams.

I also remember a few other friends who were also copying from others. But they did much much better than me in the same exams.

Years later I understood the difference.

Copying others isn’t new. Human beings have been copying each other since the beginning of time.

But how you copy makes all the difference.

Did you copy blindly like I did?

No wonder you got mediocre results, like I did.

Did you copy + improve it using your existing knowledge?

That’s how my friends got significantly better results.

In the context of business, writing this post reminds me of Mixpanel & Mighty founder Suhail’s thoughts on ruthlessly copying competitors.

I’d add to his original tweet that you should ruthlessly copy your competitor’s best ideas + improve upon them.

Now you’re ahead and can expect significantly better results.