Unless that person is to be wholly self-producing, self-marketing, and self-distributing, they will be engaging employees — followers who are taking direction, and by definition, “racing to the bottom”.

Countless small businesses born from unique ideas and much-celebrated products d on a small, boutique level die because they they are not produced or monetized in a a way that is sustainable, much less scalable.

Even the technology Godin celebrates as the distribution pipeline that innovators can use to race to the top is a “race to the bottom” enterprise. Ever try to get support from your ISP? You’re not talking to someone who has any more knowledge of your connection to the internet than you do. You’re talking to a person in a call center with a script, who is doing what (s)he is told. And that person is very likely not in this country. — outsourcing being another “race to the bottom” phenomenon.

My opinion is that Mr. Godin has not thought this through as thoroughly as might have toake his theory valid. Even so, it’s a fun sound byte that champions technology as the answer to all our society’s ills…Godin’s stock on trade.

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