Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future

by Blake Masters

The smartphones that distract us from our surroundings also distract us from the fact that our surroundings are strangely old: only computers and communications have improved dramatically since midcentury.

In the most dysfunctional organizations, signaling that work is being done becomes a better strategy for career advancement than actually doing work (if this describes your company, you should quit now).

But it’s hard to blame people for dancing when the music was playing; irrationality was rational given that appending “.com” to your name could double your value overnight.

One gets the sense that this Shakespearean saga won’t end until the apes run out of shapes.

Competition can make people hallucinate opportunities where none exist.

Indefinite pessimism works because it’s self-fulfilling: if you’re a slacker with low expectations, they’ll probably be met.

People who sell advertising are called “account executives.” People who sell customers work in “business development.” People who sell companies are “investment bankers.” And people who sell themselves are called “politicians.”