Why Your Purpose-Driven Business Looks Like Everyone Else’s

I watched this video yesterday abut lamp posts.

Stay with me.

It’s been going viral.

(You wanna watch it right? I’ve linked it at the end, but read this first! One thing at a time and all that…)

The Cultural Tutor made this short film comparing old Victorian lamp posts to modern ones. The old ones are interesting. Ornate, detailed, different from each other. The modern ones are boring. Generic, efficient, identical.

His point isn’t that old is better. It’s that boring environments make us stressed, lonely, less productive. When everything around us looks the same, it erodes our sense of meaning. We stop noticing. We stop caring.

Here’s what hit me. I see this exact same pattern in businesses every single day.

I work with founders building purpose-driven businesses. Real purpose. Not the bullshit kind where you stick “sustainable” on your homepage and call it a day.

These are smart people building genuinely impactful businesses.

Strong values, clear missions, real impact. Without loosing sight of making more than enough money along the way.

Then I look at their websites.

Teal gradient. “Our Solutions.” Stock photo of a diverse team laughing in a meeting. Buzzwords like innovative, transformative, authentic.

Swap the logo and no one would know the difference.

They’re building flying pigs, but they’re dressing them up as boring lamp posts.

I get it.

You’re trying to look professional. Credible. Serious.

So you copy what successful companies look like. You hire a branding agency who shows you best practices. You use a website template that’s been optimized for conversions.

“Best practice” just means what everyone else is doing.

It’s the business equivalent of modern architecture. Efficient, functional, cheap to produce at scale. And completely devoid of character.

You’re so focused on the product, the customers, the operations that the aesthetics feel like a bonus. Something to sort out later when you’ve got more budget.

What got me about those boring lamp posts was how perfectly it captured what I keep having to tell founders.

Every detail reveals something.

Not just the aesthetics… the messaging, the tone, whether you’re being authentically you or playing it safe.

If you want to understand a society, don’t listen to what it says about itself. Look at what it creates.

If you want to understand a business, don’t read their mission statement. Look at their website.

Think about where tourists go. Old cities. Interesting architecture. Places with character and detail. Of the world’s fifty most visited buildings, only four were made in the 20th century.

People are drawn to things that are interesting, that mean something, that couldn’t be anywhere else.

The same is true for businesses.

Here’s what actually happens when you lose a big opportunity. Seventeen different people just spent less than sixty seconds looking at your website. That’s how they informed their decision. A quick glance. That’s all you get.

Your mum looks at your website. So does that potential partner. So does that investor. So does that customer who could change everything for you.

And if you don’t make them really feel something in those sixty seconds, you’re done.

This is the bit that founders hate hearing. Everyone can reach everyone else now. Almost zero cost. Which means everyone is drowning in options and starved for attention.

You have to stand out.

Not in a gimmicky way. Not in a “look at me” way. In a “this is actually who we are” way.

Generic positioning attracts generic customers. They can’t tell you apart from competitors. They make decisions based on price because there’s nothing else to go on.

But there’s something deeper here.

Your team joined because of your purpose. They believe in what you’re building. But the external face of your business looks soulless. Corporate. Like everyone else.

That creates a tension. A disconnect. How you do anything is how you do everything. And right now, the way you’re presenting yourself to the world doesn’t match what you actually believe.

The Cultural Tutor’s solution isn’t about returning to the past. It’s not about getting rid of modern design entirely. It’s about co-existence. About giving people what they clearly want, which is variety, interest, meaning.

For businesses, it’s the same thing.

You don’t have to choose between professional and authentic. Between scalable and personal. Between modern and traditional.

You just have to build something that’s actually you.

I had a legend on my podcast a while back. Mills. Co-founded ustwo, a creative agency and games studio. Eventually stepped back to focus on investing. Now he invests in businesses under the brand “Barney the horse.” His investor deck is literally titled “I invest to buy friends.”

It’s full of terrible jokes, made-up words for money (wodge, dollbs, mooney), and lines like “my boss is an arsehole.” It’s ridiculous. It’s memorable. And it’s completely him.

You think every other investor deck looks like that? No. They all look the same. Professional photos, serious fonts, “our investment thesis.” Boring lamp posts.

Mills built an interesting one. And I guarantee you remember it more than the last five “professional” pitch decks you saw.

Most founders just need permission to do this. They need someone to tell them it’s ok to be different. Better than ok. Essential.

Look at everything you’re putting out into the world like you’re a tourist visiting for the first time. Your website, your pitch deck, the way you talk about your work, how you show up on social media. What does it all say about who you really are?

Find your unique details. What’s your equivalent of Victorian lamp posts? Not just how things look, but how you sound, what you care about, the way you solve problems. The specific things that make you, you.

You can learn everything about the Victorians just by looking at their lamp posts. What can people learn about you just by experiencing your business?

Here’s the test: If you removed your logo from everything… your website, your emails, your product. Would anyone know it was yours? Would they recognise your voice, your values, your way of doing things?

If the answer is no, you’ve got a boring lamp post problem.

The Cultural Tutor says his film is about more than the specific argument. It’s about a way of seeing the world around us. A way of noticing and thinking.

The ability to notice these patterns in your own business makes you a better founder. It makes the work richer. It makes the business more yours.

A single doorbell says everything about the system that created it. Same with your business. Every detail reveals how you really think, what you actually value, whether you’re being yourself or playing it safe.

How you do anything is how you do everything.

The Cultural Tutor ends his film by saying: “This is where the dream begins, the dream of a more charming, more interesting, more meaningful modern world.”

I’ll borrow that.

This is where the dream begins. The dream of a business world that’s more charming, more interesting, more meaningful. Where purpose-driven companies actually look as different as they are.

Where we stop building boring lamp posts and start building something worth visiting.

Your move.

Want help building the business you really want? I can help click here

P.S. Now go watch the boring lamp post video…

https://x.com/culturaltutor/status/1975600972056375541