The air in conference room #2 was tense, though it was hard to tell if it was the stale corporate atmosphere or Jaxon Reed’s palpable anxiety. The young entrepreneur’s energy filled the sleek, modern room, his knee bouncing under the table as he stared at Mark Winter with a mix of desperation and urgency.
“Mark, I’m telling you, this is the future,” Jaxon said, running a hand through his perfectly styled hair. “My friend—this guy runs a killer SaaS platform—he says everyone’s jumping on this trend. If I don’t move now, I’m screwed. My company’s screwed.”
Victor Caldwell, seated at the head of the table, leaned back with an air of casual indifference. He tapped a pen against his notepad, his disinterest only betrayed by the occasional interjection of, “It could mean more work for us.”
Mark folded his arms and leaned forward, giving Jaxon a measured look. “Alright, Jaxon, let’s unpack this. First, what’s the trend?”
“AI-powered customer journeys,” Jaxon said, as if announcing a new religion. “Predictive personalisation. Real-time insights. Machine learning everything.”
Mark nodded slowly. “And why do you think you need it?”
Jaxon blinked, as if the question itself was blasphemy. “Because they’re doing it! My competitors! If I don’t follow their lead, I’ll lose market share. People expect cutting-edge now, Mark.”
Mark allowed a small smile to creep onto his face. “And how exactly is this going to help your customers?”
Jaxon hesitated. “Well… it’ll make things, you know, better for them. Smoother. Faster. Whatever.”
Mark leaned back, sighing. “You don’t know, do you?”
Victor finally chimed in, his voice calm but with a hint of opportunism. “To be fair, Mark, trends like these do bring opportunities. If Jaxon wants to implement AI, that’s a lot of development hours for us. It’s a win-win.”
Mark shot Victor a pointed look but kept his tone even. “Sure, Victor. If the goal is just to burn through this year's allocated budget for the sake of it, then yes, it’s a win-win. But if we’re talking about building something meaningful that will create a budget for us for many years, we need to ask harder questions.”
Jaxon leaned forward, clearly agitated. “Mark, I’m not burning a budget. I’m investing in the future. I can’t afford to sit back while everyone else races ahead.”
“Investing in what future?” Mark asked, his voice sharp but not unkind.
“The one where your company chases every shiny object in sight? Or the one where you focus on delivering actual value to your customers?”
Jaxon’s knee stopped bouncing. He opened his mouth, but Mark held up a hand, cutting him off.
“Let me give you an example,” Mark continued. “Back in my previous company, we had clients like you coming in all the time, panicking about trends. First it was machine learning, then blockchain, now GenAI. They’d throw money at us to build something because their competitors were doing it, but guess what? A year later, most of them had nothing to show for it but a hole in their balance sheet.”
Victor shifted in his chair, clearly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. “Mark, not every project fails. Some succeed.”
“Some do,” Mark agreed, turning back to Jaxon. “But let me ask you something. Do you even know what problem you’re trying to solve? Or are you just afraid of missing out?”
Jaxon flinched, the words hitting closer to home than he’d anticipated. “I mean… it’s both, right? If my competitors are doing it, they must know something I don’t.”
Mark chuckled, but it wasn’t unkind. “Jaxon, you’re like a kid staring at Instagram photos of their friends camping. It looks great, but you hate bugs, don’t want to hike, and wouldn’t last a night without Wi-Fi. Yet there you are, thinking, ‘Why didn’t I go?’”
Victor smirked. “That’s quite the analogy.”
Mark ignored him, his focus on Jaxon. “Here’s the thing. You can always find a reason to justify following the crowd. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right move for you. The hard part isn’t rationalising why you should jump on the bandwagon. The hard part is being critical enough to ask if it’s worth it.”
Jaxon frowned, leaning back in his chair. “But what if I’m wrong? What if my competitors do this and leave me in the dust?”
Mark spread his hands. “Then you’ll have to deal with it. But I can tell you this: blindly chasing trends without a clear strategy or purpose won’t save you. It’ll just distract you from what actually matters—your customers. The question isn’t, ‘What are my competitors doing?’ It’s, ‘What do my customers need?’”
Victor leaned forward slightly, his tone measured. “And to be fair, Jaxon, if you do decide to pursue this, we can help you figure out how to make it work. Strategically, of course.”
Mark shot him a look but let it slide. “Here’s a real-life example for you. Remember when Jeff Bezos didn’t panic when Steve Jobs called him about iTunes? Jobs told him CDs were dead and Apple was moving to digital music. Bezos could’ve jumped into the streaming game, but he didn’t. Instead, he doubled down on what made sense for Amazon—books, retail, logistics. He didn’t let someone else’s innovation force his hand. You have a Kindle, right?”
Jaxon nodded slowly. “So you’re saying… I need to figure out if this actually helps my business.”
“Exactly,” Mark said, his tone softening. “Trends come and go, but your customers? They’re the constant. Focus on them. Build for them. Not for some hypothetical fear of being left behind.”
Jaxon looked down at the polished table, his fingers tapping lightly against the edge. “It’s hard, you know? Not feeling like you’re missing something.”
“I know,” Mark said. “That anxiety? It’s normal. But it’s also dangerous. It makes you reactive instead of proactive. If you want to build something that lasts, you’ve got to step back, quiet the noise, and ask what’s truly worth your time and effort.”
Victor’s pen stopped tapping. “Well, Jaxon, it sounds like you’ve got some thinking to do. Either way, we’re here to support you.”
Jaxon looked between them, then let out a long breath. “Thanks, guys. I’ll take a step back and really think about this. Maybe I don’t need to plow the cornfield just yet.”
Mark smiled. “I see that you talked to John. Exactly. Save the corn. Ask yourself if the voices in your head are helping you, or just feeding your fear.”
As Jaxon stood to leave, his usual cocky demeanour replaced by thoughtful resolve, Mark leaned back in his chair, feeling a small sense of accomplishment. He knew Jaxon still had decisions to make, but at least the seeds of critical thinking had been planted.
Victor stood as well, adjusting his suit jacket. “Well, that was enlightening. And, as always, Mark, you’ve made my job interesting.”
Mark smirked. “Glad to be of service, Victor.”
As the door closed behind them, Mark stared at the sleek conference table, his reflection staring back at him. He knew the hardest battles in business weren’t fought against competitors but within—where fear and reason waged a constant war.