“There are exceptional people out there who are capable of starting epidemics. All you have to do is find them.”
By Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point
An epidemic has 3 defining characteristics:
Contagion
The fact that little causes can have big effects
Change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment
The hardest principle to accept is that sometimes the biggest effects come from the smallest causes, as it completely throws the proportionality of cause and effect out the window.
These principles apply not only to viruses but also to the spread of ideas, products, and behaviors.
For instance, in business, success often depends on identifying a niche, targeting a specific audience, and leveraging effective marketing strategies.
By making incremental advancements and defining a clear niche, a business can reach its tipping point—a moment of exponential growth.
However, the concept of the tipping point challenges the notion of gradual, linear growth.
Instead, it suggests that businesses can experience rapid and unexpected success.
For example: In March 2013, Google announced the shutdown of its RSS reader, causing concern among millions of users.
Feedly, a rising RSS reader, seized the opportunity.
They offered a one-click migration tool and targeted Google Reader users with tailored content.
By directly engaging the audience and acting swiftly, Feedly tripled its user base from 4 million to over 13 million.
Within a day of launching their paid tier, they sold out of 5,000 Pro accounts.
Lesson to be learned?
Success depends on product appeal, audience impact, and effective marketing, even within a small target group.
And don't forget to maybe pounce on an opportunity when one of the FAANG companies shuts down any of its products xD