*quick quick* we must Escape The Middle

Author

Dan Pope
April 20, 2023

Molten red lava and bubbling and steaming

Covered in snow-white creamy puddles

Burnt, blackened, bombed and sooty

Last Sunday, I chowed down the BEST PIZZA of my life.

Had been a tough Easter weekend dressed as Peter Rabbit at Chessington Garden Centre #SideHustle #Grafter

In a gorgeously-dilapidated, scrumptiously shit-ole pub in Fulham.

Wonderful magic blossoms.

Crisp W6 is the most revered pizza restaurant in London right now - Dave Portnoy of Barstool sports - claimed it the best pizza in London

N’djuaaa, Booooyya

Lip-tingly, arse-hole-incineratingly-spicy

Flavour break dancing across my taste buds like 90’s Hip Hop

Crust: the unwavering constitution of a Yorkshire farmer.

Crisp was magical, because Crisp escaped The Middle

We, as challenger brands, must escape the Middle, too.

**Just me doing a few business deals xox #Candid #GIFT

Starter: Why we must Escape the Middle

Escape the Middle to find the treasure.

“Much of what other people know isn’t worth knowing” - instinct that the treasure, what one needs to know for a profession, is necessarily what likes outside the corpus, as far away from the centre as possible” - Nassim Taleb

Society. Your Mum (easy now). Grandma. Teachers. Instagram feed all want YOU TO BE IN THE MIDDLE.

Why?

Middle is SAFE.

Middle is VEJA’s

Middle is Clapham and Elf bar and North Face Puffer.

Middle is PR and Avocado-on-Toast and check-out-my-fucking-STRAVA

Middle looking at your competition, become your competition

Middle is inane superfluous market research reports

Middle is middle managers who don’t get challenger brands

Middle is a bad for challenger brands

It’s FUCKING CROWDED.

MAIN: How CRISP escaped the Middle?

Sorry for sounding like that barking P.E Teacher

I REPEAT.

I REPEAT.

LISTEN THA FUCK UP.

OTHERWISE YOU’RE ALL DOING LAPS AND RUNNING TO THE TUCK SHOP TO GET MY AN APPLE TANGO AND KIT-KAT-CHUNKY(S).

Nassim Taleb says

“much of what other people know isn’t worth knowing” - instinct that the treasure, what one needs to know for a profession, is necessarily what likes outside the corpus, as far away from the centre as possible”

Outlier: a person or thing situated away or detached from the main body or system.

Pizza and The Middle

Before CRISP, every new Pizza restaurant fell victim to The Middle.

Every Pizza joint was Neapolitan Pizza like it’s going out of fashion - see below

Every Pizza was setting up in Shoreditch or Soho or Hackney.

Every Pizza restaurant felt the same, Hot-Honey-hipster-nause n’ tote bags.

Crisp W6 - swam upstream, when everyone else swam down stream.

Crisp ditched Neapolitan Pizza, focusing on Crispy roman base pizza.

Crisp served their pizza in a shit hole - Fulham Football Club pub.

Crisp ditched Naff fads - focusing on 3 pizza’s done extremely well.

Crisp created a CATEGORY OF ONE.

DESSERT: Flat Whites or Fuck Off

You’ve got to the bottom of this email… Congrats… have a biscuit

You’re probably thinking: “Great, thanks mate, but how on Earth do I escape the Middle?”

Chill brah, hold my beer, yah.

Key learnings from the podcast on escaping The Middle

  1. Flat Whites or Fuck Off: The Opposite of a Good Idea is a Good Idea - Rory Sutherland

  2. Be a Magpie and Bring treasure back from other oblique categories - Chris Dee, Caravan Founders, Ben Branson Seedlip

  3. Constantly ask WHY? WHY is the pathway that’ll lead you away from the Middle- Perry Haydn Taylor and Camilla Barnard, Rude Health

The Call to Action Man

Yo G! Manzzz begzzz youzzz sharez dis with a Manzz in a needzzz

(** awfully sorry, going to a Rave in Dalston tonight, so don’t mind me, just channelling my inner Road Man)

Please share this email with a friennd of foe.

You’d make my so bloody-awesome-chuffed hahahhahahahshha

p.s

Absolutely no need to read this bit… but please feel free to check out our wonderful sponsors… they’ll help you scale your brand with less stress

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There’s salacious-yet-superfluous recruiters out there - proper Cowboys. Thank goodness for Billy and Paul. The Good guys.

Loved by brands like Lucky Saint, Candy Kittens, Hunter & Gather, FULFIL. Looking to build out your team?

If you need help building your team, let’s chat [email protected] 

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Check them out here or check out the poddy with Dommy too