This Week in Venture Capital and Artificial Intelligence: If You Want to Be Great, Be Relevant

Every week I will share and summarize ideas and insights with the LinkedIn community. Some of the summarizations I may have covered during the week, and other things may have just been passing thoughts.

You can find out more about me by tuning into my LinkedIn profile daily and peaking my CV that is listed below from time to time. Also if you would like to be a guest on my 2 podcasts, Capital Unscripted, or Explainable AI, or if you would like to be a contributor to any of the medias I write for or am partnered with, -- includes AI Accelerator Institute , Idea Scale, AI news or other well-known media outlets such as Yahoo Finance -- then please reach me by inboxing me. CV: www.paulclaxton.io

Great Products Aren’t Great, They’re Relevant

Many entrepreneurs believe they must solve all the world's problems at once, or that creating a better product is the key to success. In reality, the focus should be on solving one problem exceptionally well. Once that is achieved, the idea of a "better product" becomes more subjective, and its relevance grows naturally from the initial solution. The more relevant your product is, the greater it will be.

Comedians are a perfect example of how relevance drives success. What we find funny today might not have been funny 50 years ago. Humor, like all successful innovation, evolves with the times—proving that staying relevant is key to success not just as a comedian, but also as an entrepreneur.

For example, Airbnb didn’t set out to create a better hotel; instead, they focused on solving a specific problem—providing unique and affordable accommodations. Their platform, initially simple, addressed this need effectively.

Today, Airbnb is often seen as a better option than traditional hotels for many customer segments, especially those looking for personalized or budget-friendly travel experiences.

Fast food is not a great product, it is relevant to the consumer’s lifestyle. Cheap ear pods are not a great product, they are relevant to the consumer’s abilities. These realizations can help us dig into the psychology as to why McDonalds is so successful and apply it to our own businesses.

For example, most people agree that fast food lacks nutritional value and has poor-quality ingredients, but that it is affordable, convenient and tasty. Therefore it is one of the most widely consumed products globally.

What makes fast food a great product is not in its quality or the culinary experience, but that it meets the needs of a lifestyle. In essence, fast food isn’t about being the best, it’s about being "good enough" for the right moments, and that makes it incredibly relevant, and ultimately a great product; a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Cheap ear pods are not a great product; they are relevant to the consumer’s abilities. For example, many consumers simply do not want or have the ability to spend a lot of money on a product that can easily be lost. Many consumers like myself lose their ear pods often and generally speaking expensive vs. cheap ear pods does not improve one’s life overall.

“Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” Coined by American essayist and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, its meaning is clear: “To invent the next great thing, you have to have a better idea.” …

I have to disagree with this. We can build better products, but if they are not relevant to the customer profile, then it does not matter how good the product is, it will fail.

The world does not want better mousetraps, the world wants less mice invading their personal and private spaces. Some people also prefer not to kill mice, and so there are other relevant competitor products that make a mousetrap obsolete to the right person.

For example, ultrasonic repellents are devices that emit high-frequency sound waves that are uncomfortable for rodents, deterring them from entering or staying in the area. They are non-lethal and can be plugged into electrical outlets in affected areas.

Let’s look at two prime examples: Uber and Airbnb. These companies didn’t focus on building better taxis or hotels—they went beyond that. They identified the core purpose of the taxi and hotel industries and honed in on where they were failing. Instead of making marginal improvements to existing models, they leveraged existing resources to fill gaps in the market, and in doing so, they revolutionized entire industries.

The same applies to Amazon. They didn’t create better books—they created a more efficient, scalable way to deliver books to you, both online and in your hands, faster and in greater variety.

Let me take for example, flying. When we think about improving the flying experience, people typically mention more legroom, better air quality, larger bathrooms, or better Wi-Fi. So, we could go out and build "better planes" to address these issues, right? Wrong.

The real issue isn’t about making planes better; it’s about giving people more control over their experience, and if that involves making planes better, then that is great, but that is certainly not the focus. People want to reach their destination quickly and safely, with as little hassle as possible. Flying is a tough experience. It’s physically taxing, restrictive, and time-consuming. Most people don’t enjoy it. Flying, as it stands, is public transportation, and like most public systems, it offers poor quality for the masses.

I think Elon Musk gets it. That’s why he’s pushing the concept of the Hyperloop—a tunnel system that could change the way we think about long-distance travel. The Hyperloop isn’t about building a better plane; it’s about utilizing existing resources and solving the real need: faster, more efficient travel with a better experience, whether that means in the air, on the ground, or even under the water.

This is how disruption has happened in industries—not by making a "better" version of something, but by using innovation to completely rethink the solution.

A Great Product Can Be Incremental or Massive

Uber, Airbnb, Amazon and the potential Hyperloop are all massive, massive shifts in the way we live and work.

But what about the incremental products that make our lives easier; the ones we don’t think about, but without them we would immediately notice their absence.

 Imagine living without key fobs for our cars. These small devices allow us to unlock and start our cars without physically inserting a key. Their convenience is often taken for granted until we have to use a traditional key.

I think most people would agree that having to set down your items and fumble through keys every time you want to get into your car would be incredibly frustrating. Imagine if the keyholes on your car doors were coated in ice during Winter, and you had to de-ice them just to insert your key. I remember this when I was growing up in the 1980s. Thankfully, these problems are no longer an issue and haven't been for quite some time.

The patent for the keyless entry system was granted to Chrysler in the early 1980s. Chrysler's engineers, led by Robert K. N. Satterfield, developed the first remote keyless entry system, and it was patented in the U.S. in 1985. The patent covered the system's technology that allowed remote locking and unlocking of vehicles.

This was a massive shift that over time became an afterthought and something most of us don’t think about day-to-day. Through the years, incremental improvements have turned the key fob into a full-fledged remote control so to speak for our vehicles…

These incremental improvements have evolved into tech devices and even digital key fobs on our phones offering extremely relevant features like keyless entry, push start, remote start, emergency features, geolocation features, engine and body diagnosis and much more. Now you can manage your vehicle when you are hundreds of miles away through a key fob.

Incremental improvements are drastically important so that a product continues to be relevant to consumers and this is why innovation fails for many companies, not because they don't improve the product, but rather because they fail to stay relevant

Blockbuster is a great example of a company who improved their products, but failed to stay relevant to the consumer market that was changing rapidly. Blockbuster had a dominant position in the video rental industry for many years but failed to adapt to the digital and streaming revolution. Blockbuster improved its products by expanding its inventory, enhancing customer convenience with features like longer rental periods, and even launching an online DVD rental service to compete with early digital players like Netflix. However, these improvements were limited to its traditional physical rental model, which ultimately became outdated as consumer preferences shifted toward digital streaming. While Netflix and other online streaming services made incremental improvements in their offerings (such as personalized recommendations, streaming access, and an evolving content library), Blockbuster clung to its physical stores and DVD rentals. By failing to innovate beyond its core business model and missing the rise of digital media consumption, Blockbuster became irrelevant and ultimately collapsed, despite having the opportunity to embrace digital transformation early on.

Going back to key fobs, today a key fob is not just a key fob, it is a statement, it's an experience. I had a Maserati several years ago, and the feeling of setting the heavy key fob down on the table with the Maserati emblem showing was a statement, not just a key fob. Similar to key fobs, a movie is not just a movie, it is an experience. Netflix just happened to provide a better experience with more options and convenience than Blockbuster.

Conclusion

In conclusion, great products aren’t always the ones that are “better” in the traditional sense; they’re the ones that stay relevant to the evolving needs and desires of their customers.

It is important to remember that the words "improve" and "better" are subjective and based on context and customer profile.

Blockbuster improved its offerings within the context of its core business, yet failed to adapt to the digital shift that Netflix capitalized on. While Blockbuster expanded its inventory and convenience, it didn’t fully innovate beyond its physical rental model, and as a result, it became irrelevant. Relevance—like the experience of using a key fob or watching a movie—is what ultimately drives consumer choice. Whether it's Airbnb transforming travel by solving specific pain points, or Netflix creating a superior experience by making entertainment more convenient and accessible, successful innovation is usually about improving the core experience in a way that aligns with current consumer expectations.

So, when working on a product or business idea, ask yourself: What real problem are you solving? It’s not about making something "better" for everyone—it’s about making something that’s relevant for the right audience, at the right time. Focus on solving that problem well, and your product’s relevance will naturally grow. Take a step back, prioritize what truly matters to your customers, and build from there. That’s how you create something that truly stands out.

If you want to explore more about about key fobs and some of their incremental features that make our car relationships just a bit more enjoyable check out this link below…

KEY FOB TECH

You can find out more about me by tuning into my LinkedIn profile daily and peaking my CV that is listed below from time to time. Also if you would like to be a guest on my 2 podcasts, Capital Unscripted, or Explainable AI, or if you would like to be a contributor to any of the medias I write for or am partnered with, -- includes AI Accelerator Institute , Idea Scale, AI news or other well-known media outlets such as Yahoo Finance -- then please reach me by inboxing me. CV: www.paulclaxton.io

I hope you enjoyed this week's newsletter stay tuned for next Saturday's edition.

How to contact me:

-- Other than LinkedIn, if you want to know more about me or hear more from me you can view my CV here: www.paulclaxton.io

-- You can also schedule a meeting with me here by going to the bottom of my business card and following the instructions. Business card

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