Be Vanilla

Essay by Steph Ango: “vanilla” is often treated as ordinary, but real vanilla is rare, labor-intensive, and valuable. To become the best default requires unusual quality.

“Vanilla’s universal appeal is why it’s the default. Is your default as good as vanilla?”

Core Idea

What becomes broadly accepted and turns into the standard has to be exceptionally good, not mediocre. The path to becoming the universal default runs through genuine quality, not compromise.

Connection to Other Ideas

• Obsidian as a “vanilla” note-taking app: simple-looking, but exceptionally good at what it does
• User-Funded Growth - getting better slowly instead of chasing growth quickly

Sources

• Be vanilla - original essay on stephango.com (2013-07-07)