Shaken Baby Syndrome

And how its a metaphor for P-type loonshots

When your baby is crying, it is natural to rock him/her.

Still crying — or crying harder? Rock a bit faster.

There may come a point that — even at high speed — your baby won’t stop crying.

Even worse, the speed causes your baby’s neck to snap — like an egg in a jar, per the demonstration I witnessed in new parent classes — causing life-altering consequences or instant death.

Beware of falling into this trap with your product development strategy

You can make it faster, smarter, better.

But you may need to split — and eventually, shift — focus: slowly improve your current product, and begin designing the thing that will one day replace it.

But you risk spending too much time and money — only to fail at improving your current product in ways by which it wasn’t designed.

Pushing your product to the brink could break your business.