The Feature -> Product -> Company Continuum / Why To Curate Information

The Feature -> Product -> Company Continuum / Why To Curate Information

In today's fast-paced world, companies often find themselves somewhere between being a feature and becoming a full-fledged product. This journey is not just about the product itself, but also about the overall size of the opportunity and how universal the solution is to the market. The bigger the opportunity and the more widespread the solution, the more focus can lead to success. If each user buys the "product" for a different reason, it may indicate that it's just a feature set, not a true product. This understanding is crucial for companies looking to grow and become successful.

On the other hand, curating information has become increasingly important in the information age. Our ability to succeed and thrive is now connected to our ability to manage and efficiently deal with information. It's no longer about physical force or possessions, but about what we know, how skilled we are in finding and managing information, and who we have in our network. In this context, curation plays a vital role.

Curation is the act of using expertise in a field to gather great content around a specific theme and present it in a way that educates others. By curating, we not only help ourselves but also others in society. Sharing is caring, and through curation, we can be understood by others. John Maxwell's principle of being valued, appreciated, trusted, respected, and understood resonates with the act of curation. It allows us to seek our own identity and passively share valuable information without actively engaging in public sharing.

Curation provides context to information, giving it value and a specific perspective. It helps connect different resources in the same information space, making them more valuable and meaningful. Curators identify, preserve, and organize resources so that they can be discovered and appreciated by others. They also help audiences better understand and comprehend specific topics by providing the best available resources and a guiding viewpoint.

Interestingly, most people who curate content do so because they genuinely care. They are personally interested in what they do and use curation as a means to deeply learn about their resources, vet bad ones, and uncover true gems. It allows them to organize and share important and unique resources easily. Curation becomes a way to save time and provide organized access to valuable information and resources that would otherwise be difficult to find and verify.

The desire to take care of an information space, to organize it, and make it easy for others to extract immediate value from it is one motivation behind curation. Another motivation is the desire to share and inform, to educate and entertain a specific audience. This desire often stems from a genuine willingness to help, support, and cultivate a community of people interested in the same topic. Additionally, there is a will to create something meaningful of lasting value, even if it's for a limited number of interested people. Public, non-commercial digital curation serves as a social good, benefiting everyone.

Curation is about more than just individual pieces of content; it's about how these pieces fit together and the story they tell. It's about recognizing patterns and connecting various cultural elements to paint a cohesive picture of a larger trend. Great curation goes beyond simply sharing content; it creates context and connection.

In conclusion, both companies and individuals can benefit from understanding the importance of the feature-product-company continuum and the power of curation. For companies, it's about focusing on the right opportunities and ensuring that their solution is universal enough to be a product, not just a feature. For individuals, curation allows them to manage and efficiently deal with information, saving time and providing value to themselves and others. To make the most of these concepts, here are three actionable pieces of advice:

1. Identify the size of the opportunity and the market's need for your solution. Focus on creating a product, not just a feature set.

2. Cultivate a genuine interest in your chosen field and use curation as a means to deeply learn, organize, and share valuable resources.

3. Recognize the importance of context and connection in curation. Look for patterns and similarities across different pieces of content to create a cohesive story and provide a larger trend.

By incorporating these practices into your journey as a company or an individual, you can harness the power of the feature-product-company continuum and the art of curation to achieve success and create lasting value. Remember, sharing your knowledge and curated resources is a way to achieve immortality and make a positive impact on others.