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July 22, 2021 - October 21, 2023
Positively defined, a startup is the largest group of people you can convince of a plan to build a different future.
All happy companies are different: each one earns a monopoly by solving a unique problem. All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition.
the value of a business today is the sum of all the money it will make in the future.
As a good rule of thumb, proprietary technology must be at least 10 times better than its closest substitute in some important dimension to lead to a real monopolistic advantage.
A good startup should have the potential for great scale built into its first design.
The perfect target market for a startup is a small group of particular people concentrated together and served by few or no competitors.
if your company can be summed up by its opposition to already existing firms, it can’t be completely new and it’s probably not going to become a monopoly.
As you craft a plan to expand to adjacent markets, don’t disrupt: avoid competition as much as possible.
It’s much better to be the last mover—that is, to make the last great development in a specific market and enjoy years or even decades of monopoly
Definite optimism works when you build the future you envision. Definite pessimism works by building what can be copied without expecting anything new. Indefinite pessimism works because it’s self-fulfilling: if you’re a slacker with low expectations, they’ll probably be met. But indefinite optimism seems inherently unsustainable: how can the future get better if no one plans for it?
The biggest secret in venture capital is that the best investment in a successful fund equals or outperforms the entire rest of the fund combined.
Every injustice necessarily involves a moral truth that very few people recognize early on: in a democratic society, a wrongful practice persists only when most people don’t perceive it to be unjust.
when thinking about what kind of company to build, there are two distinct questions to ask: What secrets is nature not telling you? What secrets are people not telling you?
A board of three is ideal. Your board should never exceed five people, unless your company is publicly held.
In no case should a CEO of an early-stage, venture-backed startup receive more than $150,000 per year in salary.
You should ask yourself a more pointed version of the question: Why would someone join your company as its 20th engineer when she could go work at Google for more money and more prestige?
poor sales rather than bad product is the most common cause of failure.
