Why Companies are Prioritizing Depth of Relationship over Speed of Transaction
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In 2002, a business book titled “It’s Not the Big That Eat the Small…It’s the Fast That Eat the Slow” by Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton argued that speed, not size, was the key competitive advantage in modern business. They detailed how successful companies were using speed and agility to anticipate trends, make quick decisions, innovate, and stay close to customers. The book provided a framework for becoming a “fast company” by eliminating internal “speed bumps” and institutionalizing innovation, drawing on case studies from various industries. Indeed, at that time, technology had emerged as the ‘great equalizer’ and ‘accelerator’ of companies, allowing small nimble companies to appear “big” online, grow quickly, and compete effectively with global behemoths of the time.
Case in point. Technology allowed Amazon, which officially launched in July 1995, to sell $12,000 worth of books in its first week. Within two months, Amazon was shipping books to all 50 states and over 45 countries and monthly sales grew to over $90,000. By 1997, the company was already offering over 2.5 million titles.
It was that speed is what allowed a six-year-old company to approach Borders Bookstores to pitch the idea of selling Borders’ inventory on Amazon’s website. Consider that when Borders partnered with Amazon in 2001 to handle their online sales, Borders was the largest brick-and-mortar book retailer operating with over 1,200 stores worldwide, representing a massive physical presence. Thanks to that partnership, Amazon used Borders’ client data and sales revenue to build its own database and brand at Borders’ expense. At breakneck speed, Amazon revolutionized the industry with the Kindle while Borders failed to develop a competitive e-reader and delayed its pivot to digital. Borders further leaned into their “slow strategy” by focusing on further physical expansion, heavy CD/DVD sales (which evaporated with digital), and a ‘category management’ strategy that limited book selection, just as online shopping became dominant. So Borders got slower as Amazon got faster. A new reality called “showrooming” emerged. Customers would browse in Borders’ large, comfortable stores but buy the books they wanted cheaper on Amazon which also offered a bigger online selection than any Borders store could possibly carry. As a result, the fast did indeed eat the slow. By 2011, Borders filed for bankruptcy while Amazon’s valuation hit $100 Billion. Today, just 15 years since, Amazon’s valuation is roughly $2.25 Trillion.
Examples like that are many. It was speed and agility afforded by technology which allowed a fledgling company like Netflix to arrange a sit-down meeting with Blockbuster to discuss the possibility of a merger. Netflix had launched as a DVD-by-mail startup in August 1997. But by 2000, Netflix was losing money and needed to grow its subscriber base. Netflix founders, Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings, understood that the future of home entertainment was online, not in physical stores, and offered to become the “online division” for Blockbuster. They also realized that late fees were a pain point for consumers, a model that sustained Blockbuster but frustrated customers.
Netflix approached Blockbuster to propose a $50 million merger because the struggling company needed to scale and saw a partnership as a way to manage the video giant’s future digital business. Hastings and Randolph were basically laughed out of the room by Blockbuster’s CEO, John Antioco. Antioco felt the $50 million price tag as too high and saw Netflix as a small niche business. By 2007, Netflix introduced their streaming service. By the end of that year, Netflix had a valuation of $1.75 Billion. Again, the fast ate the slow. Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010 and closed the vast majority of its corporate-owned stores by 2014. Today, Netflix has a valuation of $411 Billion.
So, if speed and agility have been the key differentiators for companies to overtake and swallow slower and less nimble competitors in the last 30 years, why is there a “Slow Business” Movement emerging now? In the high-octane corporate landscape of 2026, a quiet revolution has reached its tipping point. Whereas for decades the primary metric of success was the ‘sprint’ — how fast a product could hit the market, how rapidly a product could reach a customer’s hands, how immediately could a client get service, how quickly a lead could be closed, or how swiftly a company could grow — today’s marketplace is defined by AI-driven automation and hyper-saturation. In 2026, all companies are fast and agile. They have to be and tech is sufficiently saturated that every company has caught up. So, in today’s environment, the new superpower isn’t speed. It’s depth.
Welcome to the Slow Business Movement
What is the “Slow Business” Movement? The Slow Business movement is an intentional organizational philosophy that rejects the “growth at all costs” mentality in favor of sustainability, quality, and — most importantly — depth of relationship. Just as the Slow Food movement was a reaction against the nutritional and cultural vacuum of fast food, Slow Business is a reaction against the hollow, transactional nature of modern eCommerce.
At its core, Slow Business operates on four pillars:
- Purpose Over Profit – Decisions are guided by a North Star of values rather than just the bottom line.
- Quality Over Quantity – Focusing on doing fewer things exceptionally well rather than many things mediocrely.
- Intentional Growth – Scaling at a pace that preserves company culture and product integrity.
- Relationship Depth – Shifting the focus from the speed of the transaction to the longevity of the connection.
In the ‘Slow Business’ model, a customer is not a user to be converted in the shortest possible click-path. A customer is a partner in a multi-year journey.
Shifting from Speed to Depth (2000 vs. 2025)
When Jennings and Haughton published their seminal business book, “It’s Not the Big That Eat the Small… It’s the Fast That Eat the Slow,” they had been correct. The world was transitioning into the digital age, and the ability to pivot, adopt the internet, and bypass legacy bureaucracies was the ultimate competitive advantage.
But embracing today’s Slow Business movement does not contradict that the Speed and Agility movement of the turn of the 21st century. It just evolves the definition of ‘fast.’ The 2002 thesis argued that companies must be quick to think and act. The Slow Business movement doesn’t advocate being “slow” in the sense of being lazy or bureaucratic. Instead, it argues that haste is not speed. Moving fast to close a deal often results in churn, where customers leave as quickly as they arrive. Companies that move slowly to build a foundation of trust actually move faster in the long run because they don’t have to keep replacing lost customers. In 2026, the ‘fast companies’ are the ones that are quickest to build deep, unshakeable trust.
What Changed in the Marketplace?
Between 2000 and 2025, three tectonic shifts occurred:
- The Trust Deficit – In the early 2000s, digital transactions were new and exciting. By 2025, consumers are fatigued by “growth hacking,” data privacy scandals, and disposable products. Depth of relationship has become the only antidote to skepticism.
- The AI Equalizer – Speed is now a commodity. AI can generate code, content, and marketing campaigns in seconds. When everyone is “fast,” speed is no longer a differentiator. What AI cannot replicate is the human-to-human nuance of a deep relationship.
- The Paradox of Choice – In 2000, being the first to market was everything. Today, consumers are drowning in choices. They are no longer looking for the first option; they are looking for the right option. What is the right option? The one that understands their values and provides a meaningful experience.
Why “Depth” Creates Exponential Growth
The math of Slow Business is simple: High retention > High acquisition.
When a company prioritizes depth, it creates “Brand Evangelists.” These are customers who don’t just use a product or service; they defend it. In the 2026 marketplace, word-of-mouth — amplified by social networks — is the only marketing that scales exponentially without a corresponding increase in ad spend.
By slowing down to ensure every interaction adds value, a business eliminates the ‘slowness tax’ of fixing mistakes, managing reputation crises, and constantly rehiring staff. These companies create a stable foundation that allow for spectacular success — not the kind that flashes and burns out but the kind that lasts for decades.
The race is no longer won by the swiftest. It’s won by those who have the courage to slow down, look their customers in the eye, and build something that actually matters. Intentionality and connection are leaving speed and agility in the dust. Stay tuned next week as we look at the strategies and values that real companies are prioritizing – such as relationship, retention and trust — to achieve lasting success. Let them show you the way forward.
Quote of the Week
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz quotes this proverb often
© 2026, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.
