Is Small the New Big?

Oh crap. Seth Godin, the guy with maybe one of the biggest megaphones in marketing circles thinks "Small is the New Big." That's the title of his new book (Amazon link here) and also one of his seminal posts about the rise of small companies (link here) from a year ago.

Does that mean my "Big is the New Small" is kaput? Not by a long shot, brother! We are both right. In the security business, small is a problem because of the complexity of the problem. Continuing to look at very narrow bands of the issue and praying that the customer can integrate all the pieces isn't working.

So if you are dealing with big, nasty, hairy, and complex problems, I think big is better. Small just doesn't have the resources to get the job done.

But for many other businesses: Seth's post is right on the money. Here are some of the advantages of being small:

Small means the founder makes a far greater percentage of the customer interactions. Small means the founder is close to the decisions that matter and can make them, quickly.

Small is the new big because small gives you the flexibility to change the business model when your competition changes theirs.

Small means you can tell the truth on your blog.

Small means that you can answer email from your customers.

But here is the killer: "Small is the new big only when the person running the small thinks big."

When I read that post, I get clarity about my business. Personally, I don't think IT research is one of those problems that requires a big company to solve it. So if you look to the impact that some of the smaller boutiques (RedMonk being the poster child) are having - the thesis is playing out.