Those words uttered by Tyler Durden in the magnificent film Fight Club are also characteristic of Principle #2 of the Inverse Universe. The game is no longer about building up a collection of assets; instead, it's more about integrating various assets made by others into something wholly unique -- something that allows you to make a unique universe of your own.


Again, to see this concept in action, we need to look no further than to see how media is shaping up online.

In the Regular Universe, a successful media company needs to own the rights to its content. Think of old media empires: Viacom, Warner Brothers, Fox....they've made much of their fortune by owning media.

Of course, such a strategy involves paying for media, and paying to keep your media separated -- not integrated -- from others. Its a strategy of separation, not integration, and hence a violation of Inverse Universe Principle #1.

Compare this with the media darlings of tomorrow:

1. Digg. No content is owned.
2. YouTube. No content is owned.
3. Google Video. No content is owned.

Why? Because in the Inverse Universe, those assets are useless. What's worth fighting for is the attention of your users/customers, because attention is the only scarce resource -- not media, which, thanks to the Internet, can be duplicated at no cost and with just a couple of clicks (or even no clicks, if you write a script to do it for you). Attention is the scarce asset in the Inverse Universe, and the best way to get the most attention is to create a system that allows users to experience a world that is unique to them, one that is essentially their own universe.

Old media is a prisoner of its assets, as all of its resources, business processes, and values are based on the premise that success comes from owning these assets, and from using them as a competitive advantage. Regrettably for old media, this premise is completely false in the Inverse Universe.

The Inverse Universe game is about attention, not about your product (which is no longer scarce). Because of this, companies need to pursue the attention of their customers. This leads to Inverse Universe Principle #3, which is the inversion of movement: Customers no longer need to hunt for products; instead, products need to hunt for customers. More on that in the next post.

Other Posts In This Series

Mini-Series: The 3 Principles of the Inverse Universe
Inverse Universe Principle #1: Integration, Not Differentation
Inverse Universe Principle #2: The Things You Own, End Up Owning You
Inversion of Movement: You Go to the Customer, the Customer Doesn't Go to You
Who Else is Talking About the Inverse Universe?