What is an Overnight Success?

by Crazy Ivan

It occurs to me quite often that one of these days the whole thing is going to explode.  For those of us in the know, Myachi has been a part of the world for more than 10 years and has slowly inched its way up the mountain of toy dominance over that time.

We've seen more than 20 series of sacks come and go along with hundreds of promotionals, fund-raisers and private event Myachis.  We've watched the packaging slowly evolve from the rainbow-colored silhouettes to the early super-hero images to the modern cartoons to the cyber-arena of the 5.0 pack.  We've watched the game itself go from a few local pockets doing a couple hundred tricks to massive hot-spots where people practice thousands of tricks and combos.

But for most of the world, Myachi is still a mystery.  For these people, we will seem to suddenly appear from nowhere.  One day they will go to sleep in a Myachi-less world and awaken surrounded.  It will inundate them from their TV screens.  It will follow them through every store.  On street corners they will suddenly see groups throwing down these crazy hand shreds they've never seen before.  It will appear to them as though Myachi sprung forth fully formed from the ethereal void.

They will look to Myachi Man and they will dub him an overnight success because for them, it will have been overnight.  One day, no Myachi, the next day, Myachi.  They won't see the long years of hand-sewing, the countless hours at trade-shows or standing next to displays in stores.  They won't realize that more than 36,000 hours of Myachi Man's life have been devoted to growing this business and teaching the world how to play his game.

And they won't recognize the sacrifices that he made to get there either.  They will probably see a lucky entrepreneur who had a good idea and made the most out of it.  They won't realize that he gave up a promising career as a stock broker and forewent a six figure income for most of his adult life just so that he could carve his name into the history of the toy industry.

To them, it will be the classic American success story.  A crazy dreamer and a crazy dream.  That much is true and that is certainly the impetus for everything that came after, but the dream was only a catalyst.  The engine on the whole thing was hard work and dedication.

See, for those of us on the inside, this "overnight success" thing has made for a really long night.  There have been several promising opportunities to throw in the towel and go back to the normal world of 9 to 5 jobs in suits and ties.  There have been the omnipresent temptations of having a normal home and a stable address.  Not to mention the temptation of going to work with a company that already had things like retirement packages or health care plans.

But part of the gamble of going to work for a start up is that you don't get those types of guarantees.  The potential payoff is huge because once the thing takes off you're in on the ground floor.  But the risk is that it might never take off and then you're left with 10 fewer years to get ready for retirement.

I think we've long ago assuaged our fears that Myachi "would never take off".   Back in 2006 there was a dark time when it seemed like the challenges might just be too big for us but we muscled through it under the deft guidance of our Dreamer-in-Chief and every year has seen an exponential increase in sales and scope.  We know now that a massive payoff awaits, but it's sure taking its time getting here.

And that leaves me wondering, what is an overnight success?  Is there really such a thing?  Doesn't everyone spend their whole lives working toward a goal?  Shouldn't we consider that everything that led up to the success was part of the same "overnight" process?

I suppose that within the term "overnight success" is an admission that "overnight" is in the eye of the beholder.