Why “Normal” Product Management Won’t Scale Your Business to the Stars

In the world of business and product management, there’s a simple equation that too many entrepreneurs and PMs overlook: Normal inputs equal normal outputs. Abnormal inputs?

They yield abnormal outputs. This isn’t just motivational fluff.

It’s a fundamental truth that separates the startups that fizzle out from those that dominate markets. Inspired by the no-nonsense wisdom of Alex Becker, today we’re diving into why embracing your “weirdness” as a product leader isn’t optional if you want to scale beyond the ordinary. If you’re tired of playing it safe and watching your products plateau, this post is for you.

Building and scaling a product isn’t about following the crowd. It’s about defying it. Whether you’re managing a SaaS tool, a consumer app, or a B2B platform, the path to explosive growth demands you become a statistical outlier.

And in this post, I’ll break it down with real-world stats, analogies, and actionable insights. By the end, you’ll walk away with at least three clear benefits:

1. A renewed perspective on why unconventional strategies are your tools for scaling;
2. Practical tips to infuse “abnormal” thinking into your product roadmap; and
3. The motivation to ignore the naysayers and double down on what makes your business unique.

You’re Aiming to Be an Outlier

First, let’s ground this in numbers. According to data from CB Insights and Startup Genome, only about 1 in 10 startups survive beyond their first few years. But let’s zoom in on scaling: Fewer than 1 in 1,000 startups reach $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). To hit $100 million ARR? That’s 1 in 10,000. And for unicorn status, $1 billion valuation or more, you’re looking at 1 in 35,000 odds, based on aggregated reports from PitchBook and Crunchbase.

What does this mean for you as a product manager or business owner? If you want your product to break into those elite tiers, you can’t afford to think, act, or build like everyone else.

You’re not just competing against your direct rivals; you’re up against the inertia of “normal” business practices that keep most products stuck in mediocrity.

Now, to scale your product to $10 million ARR, you need to out-innovate, out-iterate, and out-execute every other startup in your niche from your entire professional network. Think your college alumni group or LinkedIn connections.

For $100 million, imagine combining the talent pools from every accelerator program in your city; you have to be the one who spots the unmet needs they miss, pivots faster than they can, and builds features that users can’t live without.

Next, envision a massive tech conference with 35,000 attendees, founders, PMs, engineers, and marketers. To get there, you have to outlast, outsmart, and out-hustle every single one of them. That means obsessing over user data when others clock out at 5 PM, experimenting with wild product ideas that “don’t make sense” on paper, and saying no to trendy features that dilute your core value.

The reality?

999 out of 1,000 product teams won’t get it. They won’t understand why you’re A/B testing 50 variations of a landing page, why you’re diving into niche subreddits for feedback at midnight, or why you’re sacrificing short-term revenue for long-term scalability. Your family might question your workaholic weekends; your peers might call your roadmap “unrealistic.” And that’s precisely how it should be.

If you’re apologizing for skipping industry mixers to refine your product’s onboarding flow, or diluting your vision to fit “best practices” from generic business blogs, you’re negotiating with mediocrity.

True scaling happens when you’re the one PM willing to do what the other 999, or 34,999, won’t. That’s why you capture the market share they dream about.

Why “Weird” Product Management is the Key to Scaling

So, what does embracing your weirdness look like in practice?

Let’s shift from theory to tactics. In product management, “normal” means following Agile sprints religiously, prioritizing features based on competitor analysis, and scaling via predictable channels like paid ads or SEO.

But abnormal?

That’s where the magic happens, pushing boundaries to create products that don’t just satisfy users but transform industries.

Consider Airbnb’s early days.

Brian Chesky and his team were outliers: They didn’t build a “normal” hotel booking site. Instead, they embraced weirdness by personally photographing listings, hacking Craigslist for leads, and obsessing over user trust in ways that seemed obsessive (like hand-delivering checks to hosts).

Result?

They scaled from a quirky idea to a $100 billion+ valuation, outlasting thousands of “sensible” travel startups.

Benefit #1: A fresh perspective on outlier strategies. By accepting you’re an outlier, you free yourself from the trap of relatability. In business, this means ditching the fear of being “too niche.”

For instance, if you’re scaling a fintech product, don’t chase every feature Stripe offers. Instead, hyper-focus on one abnormal input: Deep integration with underserved markets, like gig workers in emerging economies. Stats from McKinsey show that companies prioritizing niche innovation grow 2-3x faster than generalists. Your weird obsession becomes your moat.

But how do you apply this?

Start by auditing your inputs. Are your daily habits “normal”, checking emails, attending meetings, tweaking minor bugs? Shift to abnormal: Dedicate 20% of your time to “wild card” experiments, like prototyping AI-driven personalization that no competitor has touched. Tools like Figma for rapid ideation, AKOOL for AI content creation, or Amplitude for user analytics can help, but the key is consistency. Over time, these inputs compound into outputs that “normal” PMs can’t match.

Practical Steps to Infuse Abnormality into Your Product Roadmap

Now, let’s get tactical.

Scaling products is about deliberate weirdness.

Here’s a step-by-step framework to make your management style unrelatable, and unstoppable.

1. Redefine Your Metrics for Outlier Success

Normal PMs track vanity metrics like downloads or sign-ups. Abnormal ones obsess over “leading indicators” of scale, like user retention cohorts or viral coefficients. For example, if you’re managing a productivity app, don’t just aim for 1 million users; target a 40% week-over-week retention rate, which Dropbox achieved by gamifying referrals. This weird focus on depth over breadth led them to $1 billion+ ARR. Actionable tip: Use SQL queries in tools like Mixpanel to segment users abnormally, e.g., by behavior patterns invisible to standard dashboards.

2. Embrace Sacrifices That Others Won’t

Scaling requires saying no. Normal businesses chase every opportunity; outliers prune ruthlessly. In product terms, this means killing features that don’t align with your vision, even if they’re “popular.” Remember how Basecamp’s founders rejected VC funding to stay bootstrapped? Their weird insistence on simplicity scaled them to millions in revenue without the bloat.

Benefit #2: Practical tips for your roadmap. Conduct a quarterly “feature audit”: List all planned items and ask, “Does this make us more unrelatable in a good way?” If it mimics competitors, scrap it. Replace with experiments like zero-touch onboarding, which Intercom pioneered to reduce churn by 50%.

3. Build a Culture of Obsession

Your team must buy into the weirdness. Normal companies hire for skills; outliers hire for mindset. As a PM, foster this by sharing stories of past outliers—think Elon Musk’s relentless iteration on Tesla’s Autopilot, ignoring critics who called it reckless. In your business, this translates to weekly “weird wins” meetings: Celebrate abnormal outputs, like a hack that boosted conversion by 200%. Data from Harvard Business Review shows teams with high psychological safety (where weird ideas thrive) innovate 20% faster.

Case study: Slack’s scaling journey. Stewart Butterfield didn’t build a “normal” chat app; he pivoted from a failed game, obsessing over integrations that seemed overkill. Result? From zero to $27 billion acquisition. The lesson? Your sacrifices, late-night code reviews, ignoring “work-life balance” trends—pay off when others quit.

Staying True Amid the Noise

Here’s the tough part: Being an outlier is lonely. In business circles, you’ll face eye-rolls for your “obsessions.” Friends might say, “Why not just monetize quicker?” Investors could push for “proven” models. But remember: Relatability is the enemy of scale. The moment you water down your product to appease them, you join the 999.

Instead, lean into it. Journal your “why”, what market gap only your weird approach can fill. Surround yourself with fellow outliers via communities like Product Hunt or Indie Hackers. And track progress: Set milestones like hitting product-market fit (validated by NPS scores over 50) or scaling to 10x users without proportional costs.

Benefit #3: Motivation to persist. This mindset shift isn’t just theory; it’s proven. Companies like Zoom scaled during the pandemic because Eric Yuan obsessed over video quality when others settled for “good enough.” His abnormal inputs? Endless user testing and ignoring short-term profits for reliability. Today, Zoom’s at $20 billion+ valuation.

Be the Outlier You Set Out to Be

In closing, normal inputs will always yield normal outputs, stagnant products, modest growth, and a business that’s forgettable. But if you’re here to scale, to manage products that redefine categories, embrace your weirdness unapologetically. You’re not supposed to blend in; you’re meant to stand out, outwork, and outscale the masses.

Be who you say you are in your pitch decks and roadmaps. Do what you came here to do, build something extraordinary. The world has enough “normal” businesses. It needs your outlier edge.

Dejan Majkic
www.whatisscrum.org