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

by Blake Masters

Positively defined, a startup is the largest group of people you can convince of a plan to build a different future.

Proprietary technology is the most substantive advantage a company can have because it makes your product difficult or impossible to replicate.

As you craft a plan to expand to adjacent markets, don’t disrupt: avoid competition as much as possible.

A startup is the largest endeavor over which you can have definite mastery. You can have agency not just over your own life, but over a small and important part of the world.

Look around. If you don’t see any salespeople, you’re the salesperson.

“If you’re at Tesla, you’re choosing to be at the equivalent of Special Forces. There’s the regular army, and that’s fine, but if you are working at Tesla, you’re choosing to step up your game.”