From Zero to Necessary: Crafting Inevitable Ideas

How to make your idea feel necessary, not just superior

Captain James Cook had a problem. His crew was dying of scurvy, but they refused to eat the one thing that could save them: sauerkraut. The salty, fermented cabbage was packed with vitamin C, but to 18th-century sailors, it was about as appealing as eating rope.

So Cook got clever.

He made sauerkraut a delicacy by serving it only to officers at first. Soon, the crew was begging for their share. Disgust became desire, all through psychological manipulation.¹

This story fascinates me because it reveals a hidden insight behind groundbreaking ideas: they don't succeed because they're better.

They succeed because they become psychologically inevitable.

We believe best product always wins. It's a comforting idea, especially if you're pouring your heart into building something great.