I’ve seen a Giant Eyeball, or actually an advertised Giant Eyeball behind a closed door, vaporize a psychologist after he confessed to killing puppies as a hobby.

I’ve seen a woman in a cowboy outfit, face down on the floor and tangled in a rope, regain her will to live when an inspiring book falls with a smack from the rafters.

In other words, I’ve been attending the Fringe Festival, that 10-day extravaganza of theater in Minneapolis in August, with 176 separate shows, selected not by jury but by random lottery and a magnet for theater geeks like me.

Maybe I’m delirious from watching too many plays, but I’ve been drawing lessons for entrepreneurs from all that drama. I’ll call them lessons for growing companies, from the fringe. Here goes:

If you can’t say it on a deadline it’s not worth saying. The beauty of the Fringe is that no show is longer than one hour, so whether it’s purely divine or utter dreck it must be completed on time. Put that same discipline into your business. You’ll be surprised how much can happen when you absolutely must make way for somebody else, in 60 minutes or less.

Saying the “f” word doesn’t get funnier when you say it 13 times. Neither does talking about the weather in Minnesota, in a show about Minnesota. Originality counts, like when the same actor in this play finally got to his bit about what happens when Betty Crocker gets it on with the Pillsbury Doughboy. Now THAT was funny, because I’d never thought of it before. Make sure your business is original, too.

20 characters + 20 songs + a scene with a real inflatable pool = a hot mess. Editing is your friend, and I’m not saying that just because it’s my profession. When plays (or businesses) try to do everything they end up doing nothing well—although I will admit that scene with the fake opera singer coming to life after having her organs removed was a barn-burner. So was the one with the little girl inappropriately singing about her mother’s sex life. So was…. As I tell my writing students: choose the best and cut the rest.

There’s more in the next print edition of Upsize magazine, which will publish next week. Until then, keep this in mind: No one cares if you’re trying to be a vegan. Check the new issue to see what I mean.