There’s no money in being a hidden gem

There’s not always a direct correlation between product quality and marketplace adoption.

Think how many horrible movies rise to the status of camp classic. Many of these films deliberately embrace of the ethos of, it’s so bad it’s good, while gaining cult followings and earning truckloads of cash.

Maybe it’s because they reinforce the audience’s sense of superiority? Maybe it’s because they enable a social experience of sharing a uniquely awful spectacle? It’s hard to tell.

Sharknado isn’t exactly award winning cinema, but that franchise produced five sequels and their total box office earnings exceeded four billion dollars. Pixar doesn’t even make that much money per movie.

Clearly audiences aren’t interested in quality. Popularity, yes, but quality, bah, that’s for the birds.

What’s frustrating about this marketplace reality is, the opposite also becomes true. Tons of legitimately brilliant and inspiring and original work out there is instantly ignored. It’s not even noticed by enough people to be commented on.

Prolific authors publish groundbreaking work that, if those books were read by even a fraction of the audience, would literally change the world.

Companies launch innovative software products that, if those technologies were adopted by even a tiny slice of the market, would transform entire industries.

Maybe it’s because their marketing budget wasn’t as large? Maybe it’s because the marketplace is oversaturated and anytime anyone creates anything they compete with everything? It’s hard to tell.

But the sad reality is, mediocrity isn’t just rewarded, its demanded. Average rises to the top. Hell, if people cared about quality, we’d still be watching movies on laserdisc.

Truth is, our culture worships incompleteness and celebrates stupidity. Marginally talented people get fame they don’t deserve, land gigs they don’t earn, make money they don’t work for, and achieve success they don’t sweat for.

God damn it. Why can’t all of us smart, creative people with our naive high standards just learn to lower them once and for all? Why can’t we just go produce some piece of shit we know will sell, take the money and get on with our lives?

And the idealistic part of me wants to say, now look, just because your new product doesn’t get thousands or even hundreds of customers, doesn’t mean it’s bad and you’re wrong.

Just because the marketplace doesn’t adopt your work doesn’t mean you’re not brilliant and your ideas are garbage.

But the cynical part of me wants to say, dude, the proof is in the putting. There’s no money in being a hidden gem. Go for popularity, not quality. Better to be number ten on a list of products that are so bad, they’re good, then number one on a list of amazing products you’ve never heard of.

Are you producing work that guarantees you will remain obscure, and then hating the world for not knowing who you are?