The Ashimmy Blog: Did I ever tell you the joke about the 12 pound gorilla dressed as a missionary?

So this little 12 pound gorilla dressed in a missionary outfit walks into a bar . . . , eh it doesn’t really matter. What is important is that for a 12 pound gorilla to grow up into an 800 pound gorilla takes more than just wishful thinking. In fact it takes more than just careful planning, a decent amount of luck (it is as true now as it ever was, that it is sometimes better to be lucky then good) and a bunch of bananas. So what got me on this King Kong kick? Well I do like gorillas, so much so that I have sponsored a few at friend-a-gorilla and you should too (it’s only a buck a Gorilla)! But I write today because my friend Brad Feld, has a post up today called the 800 pound Gorilla problem.

Brad was at a board meeting recently and the comment was made that the company was the 800 pound Gorilla in its market. Brad said it was just a 12 pound Gorilla because the market it played in while growing quickly was still small. Too small to support an 800 pound gorilla. Brad says this turned the conversation at the board meeting from a back slapping orgy of self-congratulations (I call it smoking your own socks) into a thoughtful discussion on how to grow the gorilla. That got me to thinking. King Kong grew so big because his habitat allowed him access to food, room and everything he needed to grow. The same is true for the 12 pound gorilla. Without enough bananas (read cash) to fuel growth they can never get that big. But as important the gorilla needs the room to grow. In Brad’s example, the market has to be big enough to support the 800 pounder.

So how does the 12 pound gorilla make their market big enough to support an 800 pound gorilla? Well that is dependent on a few things. Missionary work is never easy, but if you are the leader in your nascent market you have to do missionary. Also just plain dumb luck of being in the right place at the right time (an entrepreneurs best friend) doesn’t suck. Finally, your vision that made you pick a market that you believed could grow into a big enough market in the first place comes into play. The problem with playing the missionary though is that as often as not someone else can come in behind you, benefit from all of your hard missionary work and surpass you with a cheaper, better, faster solution. You see the 2nd mover didn’t have to waste the time and resources on the missionary thing. He just got right down to business.

So as Brad says, realizing you are only a 12 pound gorilla helps focus you to the task at hand. But not all 12 pound gorillas grow up to be King Kong. Eat your bananas, hope today is your lucky day and never think for a second that your gorilla status today entitles you to anything tomorrow but more hard work.