Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Big Tech and now AI companies successes have permanently entrenched the Black-Scholes formula on organizations’ risk appetite globally. Founders and CEOs are all singing in unison that a company that stops taking risks is like a shark that stops swimming. It is dead in the water. And while their boards and share-holders are chorusing all the way to the Bank, a bigger question is now starkly waiting for a response;
At what point does a company/Brand prioritize long-term dominance over short-term risk and subsequent profits ?
As a Manchester United fan, I know just how much chasing long-term dominance while employing short-term risk and profit tactics can tear at a business and its brand value.
My take, your organization is not a definite Great White Shark, it is an alive universe that must seesaw between strategic risk, tactical retreats and long-term vision.
While Anthropic is winning consumer and public trust, ChatGPT seems to outrage the public even when not trying to, the difference lies in the fact that Anthropic has shown restraint and put long-term consumer trust ahead of winning the AI race and profits . Companies building next-generation products must be strategically risky, if they are to win consumers’ hearts & minds and dominate the next decade.
In a world of daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly profit margins, a tactical retreat when you stood a chance to make millions at the expense of consumer trust ,is contrarian. But it is exactly what will win your business a cult-like customer base, and with that kind of power, you can expand to whatever direction you choose, there will always be somebody willing to buy from you.
As we barrel fast towards Artificial General Intelligence(AGI), I see how long-term vision can be deemed an outdated stratagem. However, my challenge to you is , take time and observe the waves and in what set they come in and then go all out at the exact set that aligns with your company’s long-term goals.
Would you employ prudence to gain long-term brand dominance or would you rather take the big risks, make profit and struggle with consumer trust?
