The Startup of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career

by Reid Hoffman

For a start-up, a compelling vision that acts as a pole star is a meaningful piece of a company’s competitive advantage. Google’s clarity of purpose to “organize the world’s information,” for example, has drawn some of the brightest engineering minds while at the same time been broad enough to allow adaptation and reinvention.

Developing a key skill, for example, doesn’t automatically give you a competitive edge. Just because you’re good at something (assets) that you’re really passionate about (aspirations) doesn’t necessarily mean someone will pay you to do it (market realities).