Make a dent in the universe

To do great work, you need to feel that you're making a difference. That you're

putting a meaningful dent in the universe. That you're part of something

important.

This doesn't mean you need to find the cure for cancer. It's just that your

efforts need to feel valuable. You want your customers to say, "This makes my

life better." You want to feel that if you stopped doing what you do, people

would notice.

You should feel an urgency about this too. You don't have forever. This is your

life's work. Do you want to build just another me-too product or do you want to

shake things up? What you do is your legacy. Don't sit around and wait for

someone else to make the change you want to see. And don't think it takes a

huge team to make that difference either.

Look at Craigslist, which demolished the traditional classified-ad business.

With just a few dozen employees, the company generates tens of millions in

revenue, has one of the most popular sites on the Internet, and disrupted the

entire newspaper business.

The Drudge Report, run by Matt Drudge, is just one simple page on the Web

run by one guy. Yet it's had a huge impact on the news industry--television

producers, radio talk show hosts and newspaper reporters routinely view it as the

go-to place for new stories.

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If you're going to do something, do something that matters. These little guys

came out of nowhere and destroyed old models that had been around for

decades. You can do the same in your industry.