A Good Product Really Matters

This post is about a thought I had during a long run yesterday.

I currently live in Charlotte and the amount of commercial real estate development going on is astounding. The typical structure usually consists of retail stores/restaurants on the bottom, followed by a few floors of a parking garage, and some type of office or residential space in the top few floors. The issue with these buildings is that most of them have a very modern style, which in turn forces the businesses inside to adopt a similarly 'modern' aesthetic.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, this is part of the lobby in a new building next to my apartment.

On the bottom floor of this building there is a boxing studio, a world-class brewery (shoutout Sycamore Brewing), a Greek restaurant (hasn’t opened yet), and a convenience store.

I have a problem with the greek restaurant and the convenience store. Both of these establishments are annoyingly “modern”. The convenience store is all organic stuff where a bag of Tate’s is $9 (normal is $6). And the Greek restaurant comes across through socials as an expensive and boujee establishment.

Now, I understand that a part of this is branding and how these places are trying to come across. To me, all the fancy branding in the world doesn't matter if, at the end of the day, you don't have a quality product.

And this is where the lightbulb went off.

Have you ever heard of the Metallica song “Nothing Else Matters?” It’s a great song you should go listen if you haven’t, anyways moving on. My point is, if you don’t have a good product, Nothing Else Matters. End of story.

All the other pieces just won't matter without a good product. The Greek restaurant in this example can have the best wait staff, the cleanest-looking social media, and the best interior design, but if the main product—the food—isn't good, then they won't succeed. (This is an example, of course; I hope their food is great.)

This stays true across all industries. Technology, restaurants, gyms, breweries, sports, anything you can think of. A good product will always win.

All this to say, this is my #1 lesson I have learned so far through my time in product management and building/operating businesses.

If your product isn’t a winner, you won’t win. Build a fancy marketing plan, built the best team, get the best investors, but it won’t matter unless you have a good product.