THE SUCCESS SECRETS OF THE BEATLES
“change constantly. torture your instruments. splice the unexpected.”
The Lesson
The Beatles weren't just talented. Their SYSTEMS were exceptional. (1) They made it a habit to change as much as possible, as often as possible. Every song sounds different because they forced variation. (2) They 'tortured' their instruments. Microphones under pianos instead of inside, electronics pushed beyond design specs. The sound was familiar but unprecedented. (3) They spliced unrelated takes together, creating compositions that couldn't have been played live. (4) Sound engineers were co-creators, not just technicians. The magic came from systematic experimentation, not just performance. Most bands sound similar across songs; the Beatles sound different because they engineered variety.
Real-World Example
A founder building a product. Wrong approach: find what works and repeat it. Right approach: Force variation. Change the interface, the onboarding, the pricing, the messaging. Do it systematically. Some changes fail, but you discover sounds (features) nobody else has found. Torture your tools. Push your tech stack beyond its intended use. The Beatles didn't outperform competitors; they out-experimented them.
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