I put pineapple on pepperoni pizza. I have always put pineapple on pepperoni pizza. When I am working from the beach in Haleʻiwa on the North Shore of Oahu, the pizza comes from Spaghettinis. The combination is pepperoni and pineapple. This is not a debate I am interested in having.
Why Pineapple and Pepperoni Specifically
The combination works because the flavors are doing different things. Pepperoni is salty, fatty, and savory. Pineapple is sweet and acidic. They do not cancel each other out — they make each other more interesting. The people who object to pineapple on pizza have decided the rules matter more than the outcome. I am not one of those people and that has served me well in business also.
Spaghettinis in Haleʻiwa
Spaghettinis is in Haleʻiwa on the North Shore of Oahu. When I am working from Haleʻiwa Aliʻi Beach Park — folding chair, folding table, sea turtles thirty feet away, six books written in that spot including Exit Ratio 360™ — this is where the pizza comes from. The North Shore has a food culture that is its own thing. Unhurried. Specific. Right for the environment.
What This Has to Do With Business Strategy
Jay Abraham taught me that when you are exactly like everyone else you are not special. Most business owners position their companies the same way every competitor does — same language, same offers, same pitch — and wonder why buyers do not pay a premium. Premium requires genuine distinction. Pineapple on pepperoni pizza is a small, specific, memorable thing. The Exit Ratio 360™ system is built on the same principle at the company level: be genuinely distinct, own it completely, and stop apologizing for it. That distinction is what commands a premium multiple at exit.