Size Doesn't Matter (But Actually, It Kinda Does)

Almost anyone can beat the big players by narrowing their focus.

I can make a better pizza than Domino's any day if I'm only serving one apartment building.

So can you.

Why?

Because scale changes everything.

When Domino's serves millions of customers across thousands of locations, they standardize for the masses.

Their systems aren't designed for servicing one building perfectly, they're designed for servicing everyone adequately.

This is the opportunity hiding in plain sight for entrepreneurs.

You don't need to beat General Motors at being General Motors.

You just need to carve out a specific "zone" and dominate it completely.

Geographic specialization is classic…but specific customer segments work too.

Not hard to beat Domino's in one neighborhood... but that local pizza shop isn't publicly traded!

In my world of global talent, smaller players can outcompete by saying:

• "I can make you a hire in 24 hours!"

• "I serve roofers better than anyone!"

• "I can charge less!"

This isn't threatening... unless they can do it AT SCALE.

The Tesla Playbook

Tesla didn't (initially) compete head-on with Toyota or Ford by making affordable cars for everyone.

That would have been suicide.

Instead, they launched the Roadster…an expensive electric sports car for wealthy early adopters.

They picked a niche that was:

1. Big enough to sustain them

2. Too small for giants to care about disrupting

They weren't trying to convert the masses overnight.

They focused on luxury car buyers who wanted something different.

This allowed them to specialize intensely and get REALLY GOOD.

They built a new way to deliver great cars, and scale came gradually over years.

THEN they moved downmarket into more competitive areas as their addressable market grew.

The Critical Question: Does Your Niche Have Room to Scale?

Just picking a niche isn't enough. The key question is: does your edge get stronger or weaker as you scale?

The Reality Check: Not all small-scale advantages translate into disruption, and not all niches are worth pursuing.

Anyone can beat Domino's in one building…but that doesn't mean they can scale beyond that niche.

Your market must be large enough to support meaningful growth and investment.

"Scale changes everything" works both ways:

• It forces standardization for big players

• But it also creates network effects, supply chain advantages, and cost efficiencies that your one-building pizza operation can't match

Big companies aren't ignoring small niches because they're stupid. They're ignoring them because their economic model doesn't make sense for tiny segments.

This is why disruptors succeed—using a completely different business model that actually gets BETTER as it scales, while targeting a market large enough to matter.

That's what Tesla did.

They didn't just make a better electric car for rich people.

They built a model that improved as they expanded, in a market segment with enough wealth to fuel their growth.

Our Approach at Sagan

This is exactly the playbook we followed at Sagan—starting in a niche that was both underserved and substantial enough to support real growth

We launched Sagan into a crowded channel & market—sophisticated, price-sensitive, educated buyers on Twitter.

We've done incredibly well there, creating an offer that sells BETTER than a “business influencer selling a course to existentially confused white collar professionals looking to get rich quick”.

We got really good by specializing in a niche that was substantial enough to support our growth.

What's next?

Will we climb upmarket?

Expand sideways?

Start a pizza delivery service for one very lucky apartment building?

If you read closely, you can probably guess what we're up to!

If you're thinking two steps ahead and want to see where we're going next, shoot me an email.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

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