Strategic White Flags

Netflix spent millions building Qwikster in 2011. Separate website. New branding. Complete infrastructure.

23 days later?

Gone.

Reed Hastings published his reversal on October 10: "It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult." No defense. No explanation. Just stopped.

Apple did the same in 2022 with their photo-scanning feature. GitHub switched "master" to "main" without a committee debate. 

The pattern: billion-dollar companies choosing which hills to die on.

(And more importantly—which ones to walk away from.)

We recognize this. The meeting where someone argues about font choices while the product ships broken. The team debating variable names while customers leave.

Your best people are exhausted from pointless battles.

Thing is, every argument you win costs something. Trust. Time. The energy to fight when it actually matters.

Pick your surrenders before they pick you.