Your Big Red Car is talking to a brilliant CEO and says, “Well, you have to decide whether you are pursuing aspirin or vitamins.”

To which the brilliant CEO says, “What does that mean?”

I was of the mind that the utterance “aspirin v vitamins” was a cliche when I first heard it decades ago in a Chester Karass Negotiating Seminar in the late 1970s.  At that time it was being used in the context of deciding the degree of importance of a negotiating point.

Huh?

So, what does that mean, Big Red Car?

I was using the term in regard to the nature of a startup — is it an aspirin or a vitamin?

Meaning does it cure pain — aspirin — or does it make for a healthier life — vitamins.

That’s all there is to it. Nothing more.

One of the first things an entrepreneurial founder has to get right is what aisle they are starting in in Walgreens. Are you in the pain relief aisle or the vitamin aisle?

Folks will tell you that pain relief is more desperately needed by mankind than healthier lifestyles and I tend to agree in a general, wishy washy sort of way, but the big thing for me is that YOU KNOW wither you are in the pain relief business or the healthier lifestyle business.

OK, dear reader, which is it?

[In the old days, aspirin was often “enhanced” with heroin. Who knew? The Big Red Car knew.]

Whew, now go out and celebrate the 4th of July and say Happy Birthday to the best country on the planet. OK, also remember that the day celebrates our independence from our former colonial master England which makes it particularly delicious that the USA women’s soccer team beat England like a rented mule yesterday. [OK, they didn’t beat them like a rented mule. Just getting into the spirit of things. My bad. I love you, England.]

But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.  Go eat some BBQ at Green Mesquite. You’ll be glad you did.