You know, “The opposite of remarkable is very good” is one of those lines that stops you in your tracks. Seth Godin basically argues that aiming for ‘very good’ is the safest, most dangerous path you can take. It’s a recipe for invisibility in a crowded market.
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Table of Contents
Meaning
The core message is brutal: In today’s world, being very good is a failure. True success comes from being remarkable—from being worth making a remark about.
Explanation
Let me break this down. We’re taught our whole lives to chase ‘very good.’ Get good grades, get a good job, make a good product. But here’s the thing Godin figured out: ‘Very good’ is the commons. It’s the crowded, noisy middle where everyone is competing and no one gets noticed. It’s safe, it’s comfortable, and it’s a complete dead end. Being remarkable, on the other hand, means creating something that’s unique, polarizing even. It’s the Purple Cow in a field of identical brown ones. You don’t just want people to think your work is ‘good.’ You want them to interrupt their friend to talk about it. That’s the difference.
Quote Summary
Reading Level70
Aesthetic Score88
Origin & Factcheck
This quote comes straight from Godin’s 2003 book, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, which was published in the United States. It’s a cornerstone of the book’s philosophy, so you’ll sometimes see the whole concept just referred to as the “Purple Cow” idea.
Attribution Summary
Author Bio
Seth Godin writes and teaches about marketing, leadership, and creative work. After earning an MBA from Stanford, he founded Yoyodyne, sold it to Yahoo!, and later launched ventures like Squidoo and the altMBA. He has authored bestsellers such as Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, Tribes, Linchpin, and This Is Marketing. He posts daily at seths.blog and speaks globally about making work that matters. If you’re starting with the Seth Godin book list, expect insights on trust, storytelling, and shipping creative projects that change culture.
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Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | The opposite of remarkable is very good |
| Book Details | Publication Year/Date: 2003; ISBN/Unique Identifier: 9781591843177; Last edition: 2010; Number of pages: 160. |
| Where is it? | Chapter 8: The Opposite of Remarkable, page 45/160 |
Context
Godin was writing at a time when the internet was really shifting how we discover things. The old model of “build a safe product and then advertise the heck out of it” was breaking down. His argument was that the only way to succeed now is to build something so inherently interesting and remarkable that it markets itself through word of mouth. The Purple Cow is the product itself.
Usage Examples
I use this all the time with clients. It’s not just for big companies.
- For a startup founder: “Stop trying to make a slightly better project management tool. Is it remarkable? Would someone who sees it feel compelled to tell someone else? If not, you’re just another ‘very good’ option in a sea of them.”
- For a content creator or marketer: “Don’t publish another ‘5 Tips for X’ article that’s just like everyone else’s. That’s very good. Create the one piece of content that makes people say ‘Whoa, I’ve never seen it explained that way before.’ That’s remarkable.”
- For someone in their career: “Are you the reliable, ‘very good’ employee who does their job well? Great. But are you the one who proposes the wild, remarkable idea that could change a process? Be that person.”
To whom it appeals?
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FAQ
Question: But isn’t ‘very good’ still, well, good? Why is it bad?
Answer: It’s not that it’s bad, it’s that it’s forgettable. In a world with infinite choice, ‘very good’ doesn’t give anyone a reason to choose you over the other ten ‘very good’ options. It’s the economic baseline, not a competitive advantage.
Question: Does remarkable always mean being weird or outrageous?
Answer: Not at all. It means being truly exceptional in a way that matters to your audience. Incredible customer service can be remarkable. A uniquely intuitive user interface can be remarkable. It’s about being the best possible version of something, not just a slightly better version.
Question: Who is this quote most relevant for?
Answer: Honestly, anyone who creates anything—entrepreneurs, artists, marketers, writers, even someone trying to stand out in their career. If you want to be noticed, you have to move beyond ‘very good.’
Question: Can a company be both remarkable and have broad appeal?
Answer: This is the tricky part. Often, what makes something remarkable to one group makes it uninteresting to another. The goal isn’t to please everyone; it’s to delight a specific group so much that they become your evangelists. Remarkable things are often a little bit polarizing, and that’s okay.
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