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How to find your Special Sauce
The Unique DNA of Tabasco—and Why Knowing Yours Matters.

Hello Mindful Executives,
Last week, I spent two days brainstorming with two company owners who recently merged their organizations.
Most mergers fail because the core of what made the company great is being diluted.
I am doing everything I can to help their joining forces be one of the 15% that succeed.
Part of that is creating a space for reflection on what timelessly makes you great.
Another part is helping them analyze companies that have kept their core intact and are flourishing because they have understood and capitalized on their unique DNA.
This case study was born in this process. May it help you find your special sauce.
Yours,
Nikolas
———-
The Unique DNA of Tabasco—and Why Knowing Yours Matters.
How to avoid diluting your brand’s DNA—and keep your “Special Sauce” intact.
Most organizations eventually lose their original energy, drifting from the essence that once made them special.
Yet, a few remarkable ones retain their core and innovate by doubling down on their strengths. Studying them helps you to spot what makes your organization unique.
Lets start with dissecting the special sauce of one of my favorite organisations: Tabasco.
Tabasco is one of these rare organizations.
Tabasco isn't just a condiment; it’s a living legend.
For more than 150 years, this elixir from Avery Island, Louisiana, has seasoned meals around the globe, transcending mere brand recognition. It has become synonymous with its entire category. But how has Tabasco maintained its competitive edge amid changing tastes and fierce global competition?
Let's uncover the strategic DNA behind Tabasco’s sustained success.
In 1868, Edmund McIlhenny grew his first commercial pepper crop. By the following year, he shipped out 658 bottles of his spicy sauce, wholesale at a dollar apiece, primarily to grocers along the Gulf Coast, especially in New Orleans. He branded it “Tabasco,” derived from a Mexican Indian word believed to mean "place where the soil is humid."
Today, more than 150 years later, TABASCO Sauce remains remarkably unchanged: the foundational recipe, the careful process, and the key ingredients persist.
The main difference? Tabasco now ages its pepper mash even longer—up to three years in white oak barrels—and uses premium distilled vinegar.
Rather than losing its core essence over time, Tabasco intentionally doubled down on it.
Tabasco teaches us three timeless lessons:
1. Know Your DNA
• The owners knew they were the original pepper sauce, so they stuck to peppers. If you’re known for something, make that the center of your universe.
If you're renowned for pepper sauce, diversify within pepper sauces—but don't venture into ketchup. Stay true to what defines you.
2. Double Down on What Makes You Great
• Tabasco’s secret? The barrel-aging process. They’ve never abandoned it; they made it even better by extending the aging time and using higher-quality vinegar.
If long barrel aging sets you apart, don’t compromise or take shortcuts. Instead, extend and refine that unique attribute.
3. Play Where Only You Can Win
• Tabasco realized nobody else had their peppers, barrels, and tradition. They are the OG.
When you have superior peppers and unmatched barrel-aging techniques, your competitors remain perpetual imitators. You own the original, authentic space.
Mindful CEO, know your special sauce:
An inexperienced CEO tries to be “everything for everyone” and ends up being nothing special to anyone.
A Mindful CEO identifies their distinctive strengths—then amplifies them.
An inexperienced CEO might cut corners to boost margins.
A Mindful CEO invests in deepening their strengths—even if that means aging your “mash” longer than everyone else.

Mindful CEO Spicy Take:
• Define your “special sauce”—your organization’s DNA—and guard it with integrity.
• Invest in the subtle improvements that keep your product (or service) unique.
• Pursue strategic bets aligned with your core strengths; don’t get distracted by fads.
When you stay laser-focused on what makes you distinctive, you don’t merely survive—you stand the test of time, just like Tabasco.
And that is how you keep your organization’s spark alive for generations to come.
Yours,

P.S. Leading is hard.
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