Thanks Venus. No I don't recommend that across the board. I did use "X is the best Y" 2 out of 5 times in the examples (both are directly from their value props on the site or on Twitter bio). Personally, I don't find it annoying anymore but I do agree that it is devalued. Do I believe they are the best X for Y? Of course not. Maybe I'm more lenient since think of it more in terms of vision and ambition.
I'm all for vision and ambition but there's a difference between aspiring to be the best and claiming to be it already! One is a laudable goal; the other comes across as wishful thinking.
Imagine if you opened a new restaurant and on day one your sign proclaimed it as offering the best food in the world. Or a tiny little brand new startup furniture shop, "X furniture is the best furniture for your home or office in the whole world". Can you imagine the utter ridicule such a claim would invite? Why is a software startup any different?
Claim to be the easiest to use, most elegant, most cost effective, fine. There's nothing wrong with selling your strong points. But just going for broke and all-out claiming to be "the best"? Maybe I'm just a cynic but I imagine some little kid putting on a superman costume and claiming they're the strongest man in the world. Sure you are kiddo!
I come from a marketing background, so I guess I'm both numb to and guilty of that kind of text. But I don't see how "most elegant" or other superlatives are different from "best for X" though. Both are equally difficult to prove, both may be completely subjective and contingent.
I like the kid in the superman costume analogy for startups and big ambitions. I'd cheer him on. If he believes it he'll try to act the part, so the more I'll be inclined to believe him, too (though I might stop him from trying to halt a truck).
> I don't see how "most elegant" or other superlatives are different from "best for X"
I've already argued about this way too much but let me give you an example : P
If I asked you what are your strengths, what distinguishes you as a person, what would you say?
Now if you're like a normal person, reasonably modest and yet confident of their merits, you might say you're an ambitious person who's serious about their goals but knows how to have fun, you're an excellent communicator and listener, you're a good friend and you bring a genuine passion to everything you do.
You'd come across as a really cool guy.
Now imagine if you just crossed your arms, assumed a smug grin, and said, "well, I'm the best".
What do you think people would think of you if you did that? Well I don't know about you but I'd grin and nod and think "this guy is a fuckin' douchebag".
I'm not trying to say I think every marketer who ever wrote "X is the best Y" is a douchebag; I'm saying that claiming to be "the best" is a very, very big claim. Coming from a giant of software it would be questionable; coming from some tiny unknown startup it is simply laughable.
Stick to pointing out your merits, strengths and focuses. Don't make a claim to be all-categories, all-uses, undisputed best thing in the world. You are almost certainly not, and to this engineer, it raises questions about what kind of person would even make such a ludicrous boast.
