A few years ago, I bought a ceramic mug online. Not because I needed one. Not because it was cheaper than others. But because the product description said, “Slightly wonky handle, but still holds caffeine like a champ.”
I smiled. I clicked Add to Cart. That line had more personality than most entire brands. And guess what? I still use that mug. Not because it’s perfect, but because it reminds me that imperfect things can still feel personal.
It made me think. In a world where everything is optimized, maybe what people really want is something that simply feels human.
Perfection is forgettable. Personality is not.
Somewhere along the way, we all got a little too polished. We cleaned up our websites. We hired brand consultants. We made sure every unboxing looked like a luxury hotel towel-folding tutorial. The fonts were curated. The colors had hex codes. The captions sounded just right.
And in the process, many brands became smooth. But also, kind of soulless.
Meanwhile, the weird ones, the scrappy, slightly awkward, overly honest, oddly specific brands made people feel something. They did not try to sound like experts. They tried to sound like people. And that alone made them stand out.
Weird builds trust because it feels real.
There is a small business I know that ends every email with the line, “This was typed by real humans with coffee breath.” It makes me smile every time.
Another brand adds actual jokes to their return policy. One of them read, “We’ll take your item back. But only if you promise not to ghost us next time.”
That kind of personality does more than earn a sale. It earns a spot in your memory. And maybe even in your group chat.
Is it scalable? Maybe not.
Is it lovable? Without a doubt.
People are not just buyers. They are humans, looking for things that feel made for them. Sometimes, your odd, specific, offbeat way of doing things is exactly what they connect with.
They do not want perfect. They want honest.
They want to laugh, to relate, to feel like they matter to the person on the other side.
At Ergode, we have seen this play out firsthand.
We have worked with brands that felt too niche, too rough around the edges, too different. And yet, those are the ones with the cult-like followings today.
Not because they followed best practices, but because they trusted their personality.
They did not ask, “Will this appeal to everyone?”
They asked, “Will this mean something to someone?”
Big difference.
In fact, some of the best-performing brands we have scaled are the ones that refused to smooth out the edges. They owned their tone, their story, their weird, and their customers loved them for it.
So here is my note to fellow founders.
Do not shave off your edges trying to fit in. Do not kill the fun just to sound professional.
And please, do not bury the weird. That is often the most lovable part.
Your weird might not be for everyone. But for someone out there, it might be their favorite thing.
And honestly, would you rather be someone’s favorite mug or everyone’s disposable cup?
Regards,
Rupesh
Cloverbites By Rupesh Sanghavi 
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