USING WRONGNESS FOR PERSUASION
“be wrong on purpose. now you have their attention.”
The Lesson
The trick is to make THREE claims: two that are solid and unambiguous, plus one that's "sketchy"-a little bit wrong but not fatally wrong. The sketchy claim attracts critics who rush to correct you. But now you've drawn attention to your solid claims. Persuasion only works once you have someone's attention. Wrongness attracts attention. You don't want to be fatally wrong, you want to be harmlessly wrong.
Real-World Example
A founder pitching investors makes three claims: "We have 50,000 users, $20K MRR, and we're going to put Salesforce out of business." The first two are solid. The third is audacious. Investors pounce: "You can't compete with Salesforce. They have 70,000 employees!" Now they're engaged, debating YOUR positioning, mentally invested in YOUR company. The "wrong" claim got their attention; the solid claims got their trust.
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