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

A board of three is ideal.

In the real world outside economic theory, every business is successful exactly to the extent that it does something others cannot. Monopoly is therefore not a pathology or an exception. Monopoly is the condition of every successful business.

Superior sales and distribution by itself can create a monopoly, even with no product differentiation.

that is what a startup has to do: question received ideas and rethink business from scratch.

Every startup is small at the start. Every monopoly dominates a large share of its market. Therefore, every startup should start with a very small market. Always err on the side of starting too small.

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.

From the outside, everyone in your company should be different in the same way.

Non-monopolists exaggerate their distinction by defining their market as the intersection of various smaller markets:

2. Stay lean and flexible

1. Make incremental advances