Then, of course, there was Steve Jobs. Jobs was a brutal perfectionist. He produced incredible products, and chewed up and spit out employees with nearly reckless abandon. Jobs was more polite, but no less perfectionist with employees of other companies.

Vic Gundotra, the former Google Senior VP who headed up Google+, tells the story of the Sunday afternoon when Jobs called up because the shade of yellow in the Google logo on the iPhone wasn’t quite right. Other Jobs perfectionist stories abound.

Disney, too, was a perfectionist. During the three years it took to produce the 1937 masterpiece Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt went over budget numerous times in his quest for perfection of both image and motion.

He left the responsibility to his brother Roy to cajole backers at Bank of America to continue loaning the company money. Walt wound up mortgaging his home to get the film finished. But in a time when no one had seen a feature length animation, Snow White was perfect. To this day, it is watchable and entertaining.

In the case of both Disney and Jobs, the perfectionism inherent in their products catalyzed the appeal of their offerings to eager throngs of consumers. That perfectionism has driven an almost cult-like level of customer loyalty, while simultaneously creating a barrier of entry their competitors haven’t been able to equal.

The lesson here isn’t quite as clear cut as the previous two, because most of us are not now, and never will be, Steve Jobs or Walt Disney. Perfection can be costly and difficult to attain, so great caution should be taken before you try to bet your company or your house on that perfect shade of yellow or that ideal motion capture.

There are times it’s worth throwing caution to the wind for a dream you strongly believe in – but you damned well better be able to produce.