500Startups founder Dave McClure was quoted saying, “A ‘startup’ is a company that is confused about 1. What its product is. 2. Who its customers are. 3. How to make money.“

If there’s one thing I learned while earning my degree in Cognitive Psychology, it’s that context matters. It matters so much because it always exists.

In 1985, the story goes that Andy Grove, Intel’s former president, CEO, and chairman was stuck in debate with Intel’s chairman and CEO at the time, Gordon Moore. They were exhausted from their internal discussions around memory chips and what to do next, to put it simply.

In his TED Talk entitled ‘What’s the Difference Between Real and Perceived Value?’, Rory Sutherland, the vice chairman of Olgivy & Mather in the U.K, shares a remarkable anecdote about how engineers sought to make the train journey from London to Paris better.

Let’s try a simple exercise: Think about a new product you recently purchased and were excited to use right away. Make sure it’s something you knew you had very little chance of returning.

There you are. You’re standing in front of your audience of potential and existing customers, wanting nothing more than for them to take your intended action (such as requesting a demo or using the chatbot for customer support instead of calling).

When was the last time it took you less than four seconds to make an impactful decision?

In the Olympic sport of curling, a curling stone is released along ice with the goal of getting the stone to stop as close to the center of the target as possible.

In business, money does matter, but perhaps not as much as you think. Countless studies and findings have countered the myth that the best way to boost productivity is by way of monetary incentives. As always, context proves to matter. Yet still, many organizations are structured with financial incentives that aim to serve as extrinsic motivators.

If I told you that I knew what it would take to keep you reading, would you?