Tag: #summary

Startups must get the foundations right from the start. Choose co-founders carefully, keep the board small, hire full-time employees, and compensate with equity over high salaries, even for the CEO. 2019-10-07

Valuable businesses are built on secrets - things that are hard but still doable. Look for secrets by thinking contrarily and exploring outside the mainstream. When you find a secret, share it only with the people you need to. 2019-01-27

The power law distribution is key in venture capital, companies, and careers. Focus on finding and growing the few with vast potential, rather than trying to fix failures. 2018-09-23

The USA believes in the future is unpredictable but will get better. A false contradiction. Success is not random, as evidenced by serial entrepreneurs who have founded multiple billion-dollar businesses. 2018-09-19

To build a lasting monopoly, focus on proprietary technology, network effects, economies of scale, and branding. Start small, sequence your markets, and aim to be the last mover in your industry. 2018-09-17

Competition is often destructive and distracting. Wise companies either diverge into new space or merge into a monopoly, rather than imitate each other through competition. 2018-09-16

Profitable companies are monopolies, not competitors. Competition drives down prices but also wages and quality. Monopolies are not permanent, as new markets and products can create new monopolies. 2018-09-15

The dot-com bubble showed that conventional wisdom is often wrong. Lessons learned, like being “lean” and avoiding new markets, prevent bold visions and are the opposite of what companies like Google and PayPal needed. 2018-09-14

Progress comes from either copying or creating. Global progress since 1971 has been copying via globalization, except for computing. Startups create, not copy, because small groups, not large, can think anew. 2016-11-17