The Problem With Blending In

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• News Stories: (1) OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive's AI Hardware Startup for $6.5 Billion (Economic Times) (2) Honeywell to Acquire Johnson Matthey's Catalyst Technologies Business for £1.8 Billion (Reuters)

• Startup Insight: The Problem With Blending In

• Resources: (1) Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable (2) Liquid Death: the viral canned water brand killing it with Gen Z via The Guardian

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News

• OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive's AI Hardware Startup for $6.5 Billion (Economic Times)
  OpenAI has announced its largest acquisition to date, agreeing to acquire io, an AI device startup founded by prominent former Apple executive Jony Ive, in an all-equity deal worth approximately $6.5 billion. The acquisition includes OpenAI's existing stake in io.

• Honeywell to Acquire Johnson Matthey's Catalyst Technologies Business for £1.8 Billion (Reuters) 
  Honeywell has agreed to acquire Johnson Matthey's Catalyst Technologies business segment for £1.8 billion in an all-cash transaction. The business, which generated £728 million in revenue in the year to March 31, will be integrated into Honeywell’s Energy and Sustainability Solutions (ESS) business segment.

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You’re Not a Purple Cow—Yet

You walk past five coffee shops and don’t remember any of them. But you do remember the one that sold you espresso in a flower pot and told you to water it first. 

That’s a Purple Cow.

Seth Godin coined the term over 20 years ago in his book Purple Cow: Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable. 

His point is still true—maybe more true today. 

More brands are blurring into the background with AI churning out infinite content, new startups launching every minute and design aesthetics becoming eerily identical. Being great is not enough. Being remarkable is the only strategy that scales by word-of-mouth. 

Why the Espresso-In-A-Flower-Pot Works

It’s not a gimmick. It’s a cue for a story. It creates a moment of surprise, which breaks the mental pattern of just another place and makes you take a second look. 

Remark-ability isn’t always about loud colors or outrageous claims but intentional difference. Something just weird enough to get you noticed and remembered. People often confuse noise with notability. Being remarkable doesn’t mean being edgy. It means being worth talking about. The best kind of Purple Cow is aligned with your values, your offer, and your audience’s sense of delight or curiosity.

You’ve probably come across Liquid Death at some point—those tall cans of water that look more like craft beer or an energy drink. On the surface, it’s just mountain water in a can. But what makes it remarkable is how completely it flips the expectations of what bottled water is supposed to look and feel like.

Instead of selling hydration or purity like every other water brand, Liquid Death sells rebellion. It feels like an inside joke for people tired of wellness clichés and clean, minimalist branding. That bold, unexpected identity made people talk—and that talk turned into growth. 

All because they simply followed the Purple Cow playbook. You can do the same by attempting these steps: 

• Take a boring product.

• Flip the expected script.

• Tell a story that makes people feel something.

Sources:

• Seth Godin’s Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

• The Guardian: Liquid Death: the viral canned water brand killing it with gen Z

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_{Disclaimer: The startup ideas shared in this forum are non-rigorously curated and offered for general consideration and discussion only. Individuals utilizing these concepts are encouraged to exercise independent judgment and undertake due diligence per legal and regulatory requirements. It is recommended to consult with legal, financial, and other relevant professionals before proceeding with any business ventures or decisions.}

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