Dead things drift toward boring

I was scrolling LinkedIn last Tuesday when I saw a Bezos quote that made me stop mid-coffee.

It wasn't about customer obsession or two-pizza teams.

It was about entropy.

He quoted Richard Dawkins talking about how dead things drift toward equilibrium with their surroundings. Living things fight it. They burn energy to stay distinct. Stop working; you merge with the dirt.

Then he said, "The world wants you to be typical."

And I realized I'd been fighting this exact battle for three years without naming it.

Every founder I know feels this pull. You launch with a sharp point of view. Six months later, you're using the same stock photos as your competitor. Same messaging. Same LinkedIn voice.

You don't notice it happening because it's easier that way.

The universe rewards typical. Typical is frictionless.

But typical is also invisible.

Here's what I've learned about staying distinct without burning out:

#1 Audit your drift every quarter.

Pull up your homepage, your last five emails, and your competitor's site. Put them side by side. If you can't tell them apart in three seconds, you've drifted.

You can't fix what you don't measure. Drift happens slowly, then suddenly.

Now screenshot your homepage today. Set a reminder for 90 days. Compare them.

#2 Pick one thing to be weird about and protect it like your life depends on it.

Maybe it's your tone. Maybe it's how you price. Maybe it's the one feature you refuse to add even though everyone asks for it.

Distinctiveness doesn't mean different everywhere. It means unforgettable somewhere.

Go write down the one thing customers say about you that they don't say about anyone else. That's your weird. Double down on it this week.

#3 Say no to one "normal" thing every month.

I know a founder who refuses to run discount campaigns. Ever. His competitors think he's insane. His customers think he's premium.

Every time you do what everyone else does, you burn distinctiveness. Every no is a deposit in your brand bank.

Right now, name one industry-standard practice you're doing because "that's just how it's done." Kill it next week.

Open your website.

Read your headline out loud.

If it could describe three other companies in your space, rewrite it in the next 15 minutes.

Make it say something only you would say.

I watched a SaaS founder do this last month. Changed "Streamline your workflow" to "Stop pretending you like project management." Conversion rate jumped 34% in two weeks.

Here's the thing Bezos nailed: being yourself isn't free. It costs energy. It costs courage. It costs to say no when yes is easier.

But typical brands die quiet deaths.

Distinct ones get remembered.

The world will always pull you toward boring. Your job is to pull back harder.

Reply and tell me which of the three tactics feels doable and why.

I will write back.

— Shashank