The safest thing you can do now is Meaning Factcheck Usage

Context

He wrote this just as the old TV-industrial complex—the one built on interrupting masses of people with average ads for average products—was starting to crumble. The book’s central metaphor is that if you’re driving through the countryside and you see a bunch of brown cows, you might glance at them. But if you see a purple cow, you’d slam on the brakes, take a picture, and tell everyone you know. That’s the goal. To be the Purple Cow in a field of brown ones.

Usage Examples

So how do you actually use this? It’s not just theory.

• For a Startup Founder: Instead of building another “me-too” project management tool, you’d focus on a hyper-specific niche—like software for remote construction teams. You’d bake in features no one else has even thought of. You’d be remarkable to them.
• For a Content Creator: Don’t just make another unboxing video. Find a bizarre, specific angle. “Testing laptop durability at the North Pole.” That’s fringe. That’s remarkable. That gets talked about.
• For a Job Seeker: Your resume is a brown cow. A personalized video proposal solving one of the company’s specific problems? That’s a purple cow. It’s risky feeling, but it’s safer than being ignored.

This is for anyone who feels invisible—entrepreneurs, marketers, artists, even someone in a corporate job trying to get noticed.

To whom it appeals?

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FAQ

Question: Isn’t being at the fringes risky? What if people don’t like it?

Answer: It feels risky, but the data doesn’t lie. The real risk is spending your budget and energy on something that is easily ignored. It’s better to have 100 people who love you than 10,000 who think you’re “okay.” The haters? They just prove you’re not vanilla.

Question: How is this the “safest” thing? It seems volatile.

Answer: Think of it this way. A remarkable product or service creates its own market. It doesn’t compete on price; it competes on being unique. That’s a much more defensible, and therefore safer, long-term position than being the 4th-best option in a crowded field.

Question: Can a big, established company really be remarkable?

Answer: It’s harder, for sure. The systems are built for consistency, not remarkability. But they can do it by creating skunkworks projects, empowering small teams, or acquiring Purple Cows. The principle still applies, but the execution is different.