There are many things that fascinate me in life - why do people still post fake videos of UFO’s on YouTube?; how have Arsenal not won any silverware for so many seasons?; and why does my heating make that strange thumping sound at 2am in the morning. But, something that supersedes all of those (and there really is no explanation to my heating system problem), is how does an idea become a worldwide brand.

Take Nike for example. Nike was founded in 1964 by two people, and now it hires over 34,000 people and boasts revenue of nearly $20bn USD. That’s $20,000,000,000. Nike has offices in nearly 50 countries. I don’t know about you, but that is some impressive statistics, and something to aspire to.

But do they produce the best products? I can buy Nike trainers in almost every country in the world, so they can’t be bad. The working environments that the products are produced in are well documented and Nike is infamous for defining the “sweatshop”. Nike products aren’t cheap either - in fact Nike products are some of the most expensive on the market.

The truth is that none of it matters. The fact of the matter is that is that if they are good enough for Michael Jordan then they are perceived to be good enough for most amateur sportsmen. If Tiger Woods can hit 350 yards with a Nike driver then that’s a driver that I would consider purchasing. You see, it’s all about brand – marketing, reputation and trust.

When “The Facebook” started back in 2004, the brand, reputation and trust for the scope of the project was comparable to Nike. The Facebook was specific to the Harvard campus which automatically instills trust in the web application. It lived on the Harvard network the content was Harvard specific, so why would users not trust it? The trust, combined with viral crowdsourcing was enough to warrant growth and investment.

I have worked for software companies with a handful of employees operating in a niche market, and the same principles apply. If you perform well your reputation will precede you. A solid client base builds trust. A sprinkle of marketing, and you’re good to go.

I could drill down in the details, but I’ll save that for the future.