Applying wisdom from Valve and their Video-game production method to entrepreneurship
Wisdom for small business owners or entrepreneurs: By trying to sell to everyone, your product will actually appeal to no one
Here's the transcript of an excerpt of the video called 'Valve's "Secret Weapon"'[1] from the Youtube-Channel "Game Maker's Toolkit":
Here's the thing: playtesting is as useful as you make it. If you just bend the game to the whims and desires of every playtester who comes through, you'll end up with a dumbed-down game, or bland, design-by-committee sludge. But if you go in with a clear goal, a specific game you want to make, for a specific audience you want to entertain, and then use playtesting to validate whether you are hitting that goal, you can use feedback to unlock the incredible game you are trying to make.
And here is my interpretation of the above quote:
Here's the thing: Welcoming feedback when creating a product that you're trying to sell is as useful as you make it. If you just adapt your product to the whims and desires of everyone who gives you feedback or constructive criticism, you will end up with a bland product that you think might appeal to everyone, but in reality appeals to no one. But if you set about designing your product with a clear goal in mind, a specific product that you want to make for a specific audience you want to give value to, and then use feedback you get from early customers to validate whether you are hitting that goal, namely of really improving their lives, you can use feedback to unlock the incredible product you are trying to make."
[1]: WARNING: Because of graphic scenes (violence is shown in the video), I recommend everyone to not watch the video from where I got the transcript for this quote. But nevertheless, here is the link to the video where I got the above transcript from: https://youtu.be/9Yomqk0C6kE