The biggest mistake Startups make. How Apple, Amazon and In-N-Out-Burger avoid it

Hey everybody welcome back to the Product Market Fit Newsletter 🚀

My name is Guillermo Flor and I write this weekly newsletter to help founders, growth professionals and product people to grow & fund their companies.

But, as always, before starting lets get hyped with some beats 🔥

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Alright, so today I wanted to talk about the Woman in the Red Dress aka the Shiny Object Syndrome.

I liked Alex Hormozi’s approach to it and decided to write about it.

If you’ve seen The Matrix, you know what I’m talking about. There’s this scene where Neo, the main character, is walking through a crowd with Morpheus.

Everything’s normal, just a bunch of people going about their day, and then suddenly, Neo spots this woman in a red dress.

She’s stunning, and his head turns. He’s completely distracted. Morpheus keeps talking, trying to teach him a lesson, but Neo’s not listening. He’s focused on the woman.

When Morpheus tells him to look again, Neo does, and bam—she’s gone. In her place is Agent Smith, ready to take him out.

Now, here’s the deal: In business, the Woman in the Red Dress is that shiny new opportunity that looks amazing.

It’s that new idea, that exciting project, that tempting side hustle. It’s the thing that makes you think, “This could be huge.”

But just like in the movie, it’s a distraction, and if you keep chasing her, you’re going to miss what’s really important.

Why the Woman in the Red Dress Wrecks Businesses 💣

1. She Pulls You Away from Your Core Focus:

   

   
   When you’re starting out, you’ve got this one thing that you’re good at, that you know works. But then the Woman in the Red Dress shows up—maybe it’s a new business idea, a new product, whatever—and suddenly, your focus is split.

   You’re no longer putting everything into that one thing that’s actually making you money. Instead, you’re chasing after something new, thinking it’s going to be the next big thing. But here’s the truth: while you’re distracted, your main business starts to suffer.

   It doesn’t get the attention it needs to grow, and before you know it, you’re struggling on all fronts.

2. The Bigger You Get, The Hotter She Looks:

   
   As your business grows, the distractions don’t just go away—they get bigger, more tempting.

   At first, you’re saying no to a few opportunities, but as you grow, you’ve got to say no to hundreds, thousands.

   And the thing is, the bigger you get, the more attractive these distractions become. They promise quick wins, faster growth, but they’re just pulling you away from what really matters: doing the basics right, every single day.

3. She Makes You Think You Can Do It All:

   

   
   Here’s where a lot of entrepreneurs mess up. They see the Woman in the Red Dress and think, “I can handle this.

   I can juggle multiple businesses, multiple projects.” But the reality is, you can’t. Not at the level you need to. If you’re trying to do five different things, none of them are going to be great. You’re just going to end up with a bunch of mediocre projects instead of one outstanding business. And that’s how you lose—because while you’re spreading yourself thin, someone else is out there focusing on one thing and doing it better than you.

4. She Makes You Forget the Basics:

   

   
   The Woman in the Red Dress makes the basics seem boring. She’s all about the new, the exciting, the innovative.

   But here’s the thing—business isn’t about constantly chasing the new. It’s about doing the basics, and doing them well.

   It’s about refining your processes, training your team, improving customer service. The boring stuff. But that’s the stuff that actually grows your business. When you get distracted by the Woman in the Red Dress, you start to neglect these things, and that’s when your business starts to fall apart.

5. She Tricks You Into Thinking Innovation is Everything:

   

   Don’t get me wrong—innovation is important. But it’s not everything. The Woman in the Red Dress makes you think that if you’re not constantly innovating, you’re falling behind.

   But the truth is, most business success comes from doing the things you know you should be doing, but aren’t.

   It’s about execution, not just ideas.

   You’ve got to stick to the basics, do them better than anyone else, and keep doing them over and over again. That’s how you win.

How Apple, Amazon and In-N-Out-Burger avoid the woman in the red dress