Preferred Summaries
…Precise and Powerful
Author: Peter Thiel with Blake Masters
Pages: 210
Publisher: Currency Publishers
Category: Business and Management
Summarized By preferred Books…Distributing Knowledge!
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Name of Book: Zero to One
PREFACE:
Every moment in business happens only once. Duplicating moments will lead to inferior performance. The next Bill Gates will not build operating system and the next Mack Zuckerberg will not build a social networking platform. Anyone trying to replicate their successes must not copy them but should learn from them to do something that’s not yet done. Today’s best practices lead to dead ends the best paths are new and untried.
THE CHALLENGE OF THE FUTURE:
The author started out this topic by asking a revealing question: “what important truth do very few people agree with you on?”the simpler side of this question is: “what problem is nobody solving? And the answer to this is the path to the future. The future is brought near or chased further into the future by man’s ability to accelerate changes by solving problems. The more problems we solve today, the more we bring the future closer to today and the less problems we solve the we keep the future far from today. Bringing new solutions to old and new problems depicts vertical progress; moving from zero to one while copying what others have done depicts horizontal progress; moving from 1 to ‘n’. The single word for horizontal progress is globalization which is akin to recycling and the single word for vertical progress is technology. Technology is simply, any new and better way of doing something. Globalization is a beautiful word but it means little without technology. New technology tends to come from new ventures; ‘start ups’ which is defined as the largest group of people you can convince of a plan to build a different future.
PARTY LIKE ITS 1999:
The writer started this very important topic by quoting Fredrick Nietzsche thus: “Madness is rare in individuals but in groups, parties, nations and ages, it’s the rule” 1999 heralded what could be called ‘start up mania’ where people were starting businesses almost every weekend and the businesses were always through expensive parties. These businesses are started without due diligence and many people eager for quick wealth doled out their monies and lost same in a jiffy. The author warned here that the first step to thinking clearly is to question what one thinks one knows about the future. The frenetic internet business explosions that made many poor was due to the fact that the world started globalizing without the right tools for its sustenance which internet opportunities provided. Starting businesses is not just the answer to economic retardations; it must be done rightly and correctly. LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE DOT COM MANIA: 1. Make incremental advances; think big but start small 2. Stay lean and flexible; try things, don’t just plan ahead. 3. Improve on the competition; don’t be too eager to create a new market, rather, start by improving on what already is. 4. Focus on your product not sales; if your product requires sales people to sell it; your product is not good enough. Not minding the pain of mindless start up crashes, we shouldn’t be afraid to innovate for therein lies the future of progress.
ALL HAPPY COMPANIES ARE DIFFERENT:
Most companies create value but they don’t capture some of those values for themselves; they offer great services and products that don’t reflect in their bottom line. “If you want to capture some of the values you create, don’t build an undifferentiated commodity business”, the author advises. In other words, try to create a niche that cannot be duplicated; become a monopoly. Most monopolies try to cover their dominance by lying to the world about the great competition they face while most competitive businesses try to hid the pain of competition by trumping up their non existent uniqueness. The author advises that what the world needs is is creative monopoly which gives the customer more choices by adding entirely new categories of abundance to the world. Creative monopolies are the engines that make the society more preferable. The author concludes here by stating that all failed companies are same; they failed to escape competition and that monopoly is the condition of every successful business.
THE IDEOLOGY OF COMPETITION:
creative monopoly means new product that benefit everybody and sustainable profits for the creator. The author maintains that competition is an ideology that permeates every aspect of our lives, from the home, the school and even the church to the business world. Ironically, the more we compete, the less we gain. Rivalry causes us to overemphasize old opportunities and slavishly copy what has worked in the past. Companies fight when they can create a difference to focus on. The author concludes by stating that as long as we too much in the past that competition will continue to exist and advises that when the completion is not worth it, that everyone loses but that whenever we must fight, we must remember that there are no middle grounds; its either you strike hard and end it quickly or don’t fight at all.
THE LAST MOVER ADVANTAGE:
Escaping competition will give you a monopoly but even a monopoly is a great business if only it can endure in the future. Technology companies exhibit the last mover advantage in that they always start out losing money, because, it takes time to build valuable things and their potential to generate cash flows in the future is always an invaluable attraction. A great company is one with the ability to generate cash in the future. For a company to be valuable, it must grow and endure but many entrepreneurs focus only on the short term growth; they have an excuse because, growth is easy to measure but is not. All monopolies are distinct but they share the following basic traits: 1. Proprietary advantage which makes one’s business difficult to copy 2. Network effect; which increases the value of a product as more users use it. 3. Economies of scale; ability to grow with little or no cost 4. Branding which is positioning superior substance instead of just inundating people with slogans.
STEPS TO BUILDING A MONOPOLY:
a. start small and monopolize instead of taking on the whole world at once b. Scaling up; once you dominate a niche market, then, gradually expand into slightly related and broader markets. C. Don’t disrupt; don’t focus your creative energy on what others have rather, create yours. Once again, don’t strive to be the last mover, because, it’s a strategy, not a goal, rather, strive to be the entrant with the most differentiated value that can make you a monopoly and create value for years on and as the grandmaster; Jose Raul Capablanca puts it: “to succeed, you must study the endgame before everything else”.
YOU ARE NOT A LOTTERY:
According to most successful business owners; from Warren Buffet to Jeff Bezos, success seems predominantly to be a product of chance. We know that they are trying to be modest and that though chance may feature in the intangible causes of success, chance should never be deliberately factored in as a definite ingredient of success. According to the author, if you treat the future as something definite, it makes sense to try to understand it in advance and try to shape it but if you expect an indefinite future, ruled by randomness, you will give up trying to master it. a definite view not an uncertain one favours firm convictions. According to the author, we should be definite optimists, because, a definite person determines the one best thing to do and does it. Instead of working tirelessly to make herself indistinguishable, she strives to be great at something substantive; to be a monopoly of one. The author defines an indefinite pessimist as one that looks out into a bleak future but has no idea what to do about it while a definite pessimist believes the future can be known but since it will be bleak, he must be prepared for it. To a definite optimist, the future will be better than the present if he plans and works to make it better. To an indefinite optimist, the future will be better but he doesn’t know how exactly, so, he won’t make definite plans. According to the author, a whole generation learned from childhood to overrate the power of chance and underrate the importance of planning. According to the author, while a definitely optimistic future would need Engineers to design and plan accurately, an indefinitely optimistic future calls for more lawyers and bankers. In his view, finance epitomizes indefinite thinking, because its the only way make money without knowing how to create wealth. Only in a definite future is money a means to a\n end not the end itself. According to the author, today’s politics have become grossly indefinite and politicians today are more fascinated by what the voters will be thinking in a few week’s time than by visionary predictions of what the country will look like 10 or 20 years from now. In general, most people have chosen to adopt an indefinite philosophy towards the future. Definite optimism future works when you build the future you envision but indefinite optimism seems inherently unsustainable; how can the future get better if no one plans for it. progress without plan is what is called evolution but in start ups, intelligent design works better than evolution. Finally, the author urges a prioritization of design over chance and urges us to find a way back to a definite future and it begins by rejecting the unjust tyranny of chance.
FOLLOW THE MONEY:
The author tries at this stage to bring to our deliberate consciousness the unshakable force that rules our world. He calls it the power law. This law was given global recognition by the Italian Economist; Vilfredo Pareto in 1906 and in summary says that 80% of the results we get in everything we do in life is generated by only 20% of what we do in that area. He advises that we intelligently concentrate our efforts in whatever we do as opposed to generalization or fragmentation. When you find what is working in whatever you do, blow it up or simply, do more of it. He emphasized that the power law is even more needful in handling start ups, because, in most countries, start ups drive employment more than traditional companies. This law states that you should focus relentlessly in what you are good at but before that, you must think hard whether it will be valuable in the future. The most important things are singular; one market will be better than all the others. Hence, follow what’s working; follow the money.
SECRETS:
All great companies are those that reveal great secrets that are unknown to the world up to then and they are different from mysteries, because, mysteries refer to things that are difficult to understand. Seeking out secrets is a process of becoming or goal setting which is very indispensable to being happy, according Ted Kaszynski, the child prodigy who enrolled at Harvard at 16. So many are no longer seeking out secrets, presuming that there is nothing more to discover due to the following factors, according to the author; 1.Incremantalism; we are trained to go one step at a time and to follow only acceptable patterns. 2. Risk aversion; people are scared of secrets, because, they are afraid of being wrong. 3. Complacency; the elites who are supposed to seek for secrets have little motivation to do so, because, they think they have enough. 4. Flatness; globalization has interconnected the world and has barred all secrets. You can’t find secrets without looking for them and this was radically demonstrated when Andrew Wiles Fermat’s last theorem after 358years of failure by other mathematicians. Only by believing in and looking for secrets could you see beyond convention to an opportunity hidden plain sight. To discover secrets, you must constantly ask yourself: “what secret is nature not telling me; what secrets are people not telling me, what are people not allowed to talk about, what is forbidden or taboo?” the best place to look for secrets is where no one else is looking. A great company, the author concludes is a great conspiracy to change the world and you mustn’t share the secrets, because, when you do, the recipient becomes a fellow conspirator. FOUNDATIONS: there are certain things every company that hopes to be great must get right at the beginning: 1. Founders should have a pre-history before they start a company 2. Its very difficult to move from 0 to 1 without a team; ownership; who legally owns a company’s equity, Possession; who actually runs the company on a day to day basis and control; who formerly governs the company’s affairs. A great company must not allow misalignment; giving some people roles that make them want to please everybody today and kill the company tomorrow. In the boardroom, less is more; a boardroom of three is ideal. For the author, anyone you involve with your company should be involved full time. Also, a company does greater the less it pays the CEO for this implies uncommon commitment and communicates goodwill. If you get the founding moment right, you can do more than create a valuable company, you can steer its distant future towards the creation of new things instead of the stewardship of inherited success. you might even extend its founding indefinitely.
THE MECHANICS OF THE MAFIA:
the author exposes here that an ideal company culture should be such people should enjoy going to office such that time becomes nonexistent. He advocates that whatever private stuffs or pets that make an employee comfortable should be allowed as long as it makes the person perform best and this typifies the mechanics of the mafia. He states that a company culture doesn’t exist except the company itself. You need people who are not just skilled on paper but who can work closely together after they are hired. You will attract the employees you need if you will explain to them your mission; why you are doing something important that no one is going to get done, not just why its important in general. Your strongest passion should be the opportunity to do an irreplaceable work on a unique problem alongside great people. He maintains that from the outside, everyone in your company should be different in the same way but on the inside, every individual should be sharply distinguished by her work. He says: “the best thing I did as a manager at PayPal was to make every person in the company responsible for just one thing” the author reveals that start ups are almost like cults but that the difference is that cultists tend to be fanatically wrong about something important while start up founders are fanatically right about something those outside it have missed.
IF YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME?
Most people who are innovation and engineering driven often never think about sales or distribution as they strive to change the world through their ideas. The reality is that if you cant sell it, then, it’s of little value building it. he stresses that advertising doesn’t make one buy a product right away but exists to embed subtle impressions that will drive sales later and anyone who cant acknowledge its likely effect on himself is double deceived. He reveals that all sales men are actors and their priority is persuasion not sincerity and like acting, sales work best when \hidden. Every business that will last should have invisible elements of sales embedded in all they do; it must be subtle because, if its exposed, it loses its power. He stresses that complex sales like selling ice to an Eskimo works best when one doesn’t have sales men at all. Advertising can work for start ups, especially if its economically feasible and sustainable. He maintains that the mother of all marketing is viral marketing which works when you have a product that encourages users to invite their friends to become users too. He reveals that a company should sell more than its products; you must also sell your company to employees and investors and that no company should assume that people will admire it without having a public relations strategy. He concludes this section by saying that everyone has a product to sell whether they are employees, founders or investors.
MAN AND MACHINE:
a default analysis of this age may seem to suggest that technology is taking over the role of man but that’s far from the truth. He maintains that the valuable businesses of the coming age will be built by entrepreneurs who seek to empower people rather than make them obsolete. Computers don’t compete with men, rather, they compliment men. Humans have intentionality; we make plans and can make decisions in complicated cases but machines are the opposite; they efficiently make sense of large amount of data but cannot be intentional in making basic judgments that would be simple for any human. Computers are tools, not rivals and we should always ask: ‘how can computers help humans solve hard problems. Technology is supposed to increase our mastery over nature and reduce the role of chance in our lives. SEEING GREEN: at the start of the 21st century, the business of harnessing the forces of nature to reveal clean sources of energy was springing up everywhere. They promised to solve great problems, especially by harnessing the energy of the sun but almost all failed due to their neglect to ask the seven questions every business should answer: 1. Can you create a breakthrough technology instead of just incremental improvements. 2. Is now the right time for your particular business. 3. Are you starting with a big share of a small market; monopoly. 4. Do you have the right team. 5. Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your products. 6. Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years from now. 7. Have you indentified a unique opportunity that others don’t see. The author contends that social entrepreneurship which is what green techs claim to be is a great idea but doesn’t end up great in practicality, because, they aim to combine the best of both worlds and do well by doing good and usually, they end up doing neither. He stresses that doing something different is what is good for the society and is also what allows a business to profit by monopolizing a new market. THE FOUNDER’S PARADOX: this chapter is about why it’s more powerful and at same tie more dangerous for a company to be led by a distinctive individual instead of an interchangeable manager. This is because, management is simply about containing change and uncertainty. The author tries to posit that founders are not extremists and are equally, not normal. He goes on to say that they oscillate between the two extremes Must there be anything unusual about someone for him to be able to be outstanding? Perhaps the very nature of uncommon success is common. Analyzing the lives of great founders starting from Howard Hughes, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs to Sean Parker validates this claim. He concludes this by stating that Founders are important not because they are the only ones whose works have value but rather, because, a great founder can bring out the best work from everyone at his company.
STAGNATION OR SINGULARITY?
This chapter tries to guess what the future may look like based on some intelligent projections and speculations. Some claim that it may portend fortune and ruin, some say that it may converge like a plateau, still, some claim that it may lead to a collapse that may lead to extinction and the last group say that the future would take off towards an infinitely greater future. The author maintains that without new technology to relieve competitive pressures, stagnation is likely to erupt into conflict and in the case of a conflict, on a global scale, stagnation collapses into extinction. He concludes the book by reminding us that we cannot take for granted that the future will be better and that means that we need to work to create it today.
PREFACE:
Every moment in business happens only once. Duplicating moments will lead to inferior performance. The next Bill Gates will not build operating system and the next Mack Zuckerberg will not build a social networking platform. Anyone trying to replicate their successes must not copy them but should learn from them to do something that’s not yet done. Today’s best practices lead to dead ends the best paths are new and untried.
THE CHALLENGE OF THE FUTURE:
The author started out this topic by asking a revealing question: “what important truth do very few people agree with you on?”the simpler side of this question is: “what problem is nobody solving? And the answer to this is the path to the future. The future is brought near or chased further into the future by man’s ability to accelerate changes by solving problems. The more problems we solve today, the more we bring the future closer to today and the less problems we solve the we keep the future far from today. Bringing new solutions to old and new problems depicts vertical progress; moving from zero to one while copying what others have done depicts horizontal progress; moving from 1 to ‘n’. The single word for horizontal progress is globalization which is akin to recycling and the single word for vertical progress is technology. Technology is simply, any new and better way of doing something. Globalization is a beautiful word but it means little without technology. New technology tends to come from new ventures; ‘start ups’ which is defined as the largest group of people you can convince of a plan to build a different future.
PARTY LIKE ITS 1999:
The writer started this very important topic by quoting Fredrick Nietzsche thus: “Madness is rare in individuals but in groups, parties, nations and ages, it’s the rule” 1999 heralded what could be called ‘start up mania’ where people were starting businesses almost every weekend and the businesses were always through expensive parties. These businesses are started without due diligence and many people eager for quick wealth doled out their monies and lost same in a jiffy. The author warned here that the first step to thinking clearly is to question what one thinks one knows about the future. The frenetic internet business explosions that made many poor was due to the fact that the world started globalizing without the right tools for its sustenance which internet opportunities provided. Starting businesses is not just the answer to economic retardations; it must be done rightly and correctly.
LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE DOT COM MANIA: 1.
Make incremental advances; think big but start small 2. Stay lean and flexible; try things, don’t just plan ahead. 3. Improve on the competition; don’t be too eager to create a new market, rather, start by improving on what already is. 4. Focus on your product not sales; if your product requires sales people to sell it; your product is not good enough. Not minding the pain of mindless start up crashes, we shouldn’t be afraid to innovate for therein lies the future of progress.
ALL HAPPY COMPANIES ARE DIFFERENT:
Most companies create value but they don’t capture some of those values for themselves; they offer great services and products that don’t reflect in their bottom line. “If you want to capture some of the values you create, don’t build an undifferentiated commodity business”, the author advises. In other words, try to create a niche that cannot be duplicated; become a monopoly. Most monopolies try to cover their dominance by lying to the world about the great competition they face while most competitive businesses try to hid the pain of competition by trumping up their non existent uniqueness. The author advises that what the world needs is is creative monopoly which gives the customer more choices by adding entirely new categories of abundance to the world. Creative monopolies are the engines that make the society more preferable. The author concludes here by stating that all failed companies are same; they failed to escape competition and that monopoly is the condition of every successful business.
THE IDEOLOGY OF COMPETITION:
creative monopoly means new product that benefit everybody and sustainable profits for the creator. The author maintains that competition is an ideology that permeates every aspect of our lives, from the home, the school and even the church to the business world. Ironically, the more we compete, the less we gain. Rivalry causes us to overemphasize old opportunities and slavishly copy what has worked in the past. Companies fight when they can create a difference to focus on. The author concludes by stating that as long as we too much in the past that competition will continue to exist and advises that when the completion is not worth it, that everyone loses but that whenever we must fight, we must remember that there are no middle grounds; its either you strike hard and end it quickly or don’t fight at all.
THE LAST MOVER ADVANTAGE:
Escaping competition will give you a monopoly but even a monopoly is a great business if only it can endure in the future. Technology companies exhibit the last mover advantage in that they always start out losing money, because, it takes time to build valuable things and their potential to generate cash flows in the future is always an invaluable attraction. A great company is one with the ability to generate cash in the future. For a company to be valuable, it must grow and endure but many entrepreneurs focus only on the short term growth; they have an excuse because, growth is easy to measure but is not. All monopolies are distinct but they share the following basic traits: 1. Proprietary advantage which makes one’s business difficult to copy 2. Network effect; which increases the value of a product as more users use it. 3. Economies of scale; ability to grow with little or no cost 4. Branding which is positioning superior substance instead of just inundating people with slogans.
STEPS TO BUILDING A MONOPOLY:
a. start small and monopolize instead of taking on the whole world at once b. Scaling up; once you dominate a niche market, then, gradually expand into slightly related and broader markets. C. Don’t disrupt; don’t focus your creative energy on what others have rather, create yours. Once again, don’t strive to be the last mover, because, it’s a strategy, not a goal, rather, strive to be the entrant with the most differentiated value that can make you a monopoly and create value for years on and as the grandmaster; Jose Raul Capablanca puts it: “to succeed, you must study the endgame before everything else”
YOU ARE NOT A LOTTERY:
According to most successful business owners; from Warren Buffet to Jeff Bezos, success seems predominantly to be a product of chance. We know that they are trying to be modest and that though chance may feature in the intangible causes of success, chance should never be deliberately factored in as a definite ingredient of success. According to the author, if you treat the future as something definite, it makes sense to try to understand it in advance and try to shape it but if you expect an indefinite future, ruled by randomness, you will give up trying to master it. a definite view not an uncertain one favours firm convictions. According to the author, we should be definite optimists, because, a definite person determines the one best thing to do and does it. Instead of working tirelessly to make herself indistinguishable, she strives to be great at something substantive; to be a monopoly of one. The author defines an indefinite pessimist as one that looks out into a bleak future but has no idea what to do about it while a definite pessimist believes the future can be known but since it will be bleak, he must be prepared for it. To a definite optimist, the future will be better than the present if he plans and works to make it better. To an indefinite optimist, the future will be better but he doesn’t know how exactly, so, he won’t make definite plans. According to the author, a whole generation learned from childhood to overrate the power of chance and underrate the importance of planning. According to the author, while a definitely optimistic future would need Engineers to design and plan accurately, an indefinitely optimistic future calls for more lawyers and bankers. In his view, finance epitomizes indefinite thinking, because its the only way make money without knowing how to create wealth. Only in a definite future is money a means to a\n end not the end itself. According to the author, today’s politics have become grossly indefinite and politicians today are more fascinated by what the voters will be thinking in a few week’s time than by visionary predictions of what the country will look like 10 or 20 years from now. In general, most people have chosen to adopt an indefinite philosophy towards the future. Definite optimism future works when you build the future you envision but indefinite optimism seems inherently unsustainable; how can the future get better if no one plans for it. progress without plan is what is called evolution but in start ups, intelligent design works better than evolution. Finally, the author urges a prioritization of design over chance and urges us to find a way back to a definite future and it begins by rejecting the unjust tyranny of chance.
FOLLOW THE MONEY:
The author tries at this stage to bring to our deliberate consciousness the unshakable force that rules our world. He calls it the power law. This law was given global recognition by the Italian Economist; Vilfredo Pareto in 1906 and in summary says that 80% of the results we get in everything we do in life is generated by only 20% of what we do in that area. He advises that we intelligently concentrate our efforts in whatever we do as opposed to generalization or fragmentation. When you find what is working in whatever you do, blow it up or simply, do more of it. He emphasized that the power law is even more needful in handling start ups, because, in most countries, start ups drive employment more than traditional companies. This law states that you should focus relentlessly in what you are good at but before that, you must think hard whether it will be valuable in the future. The most important things are singular; one market will be better than all the others. Hence, follow what’s working; follow the money.
SECRETS:
All great companies are those that reveal great secrets that are unknown to the world up to then and they are different from mysteries, because, mysteries refer to things that are difficult to understand. Seeking out secrets is a process of becoming or goal setting which is very indispensable to being happy, according Ted Kaszynski, the child prodigy who enrolled at Harvard at 16. So many are no longer seeking out secrets, presuming that there is nothing more to discover due to the following factors, according to the author; 1.Incremantalism; we are trained to go one step at a time and to follow only acceptable patterns. 2. Risk aversion; people are scared of secrets, because, they are afraid of being wrong. 3. Complacency; the elites who are supposed to seek for secrets have little motivation to do so, because, they think they have enough. 4. Flatness; globalization has interconnected the world and has barred all secrets. You can’t find secrets without looking for them and this was radically demonstrated when Andrew Wiles Fermat’s last theorem after 358years of failure by other mathematicians. Only by believing in and looking for secrets could you see beyond convention to an opportunity hidden plain sight. To discover secrets, you must constantly ask yourself: “what secret is nature not telling me; what secrets are people not telling me, what are people not allowed to talk about, what is forbidden or taboo?” the best place to look for secrets is where no one else is looking. A great company, the author concludes is a great conspiracy to change the world and you mustn’t share the secrets, because, when you do, the recipient becomes a fellow conspirator.
FOUNDATIONS:
there are certain things every company that hopes to be great must get right at the beginning: 1. Founders should have a pre-history before they start a company 2. Its very difficult to move from 0 to 1 without a team; ownership; who legally owns a company’s equity, Possession; who actually runs the company on a day to day basis and control; who formerly governs the company’s affairs. A great company must not allow misalignment; giving some people roles that make them want to please everybody today and kill the company tomorrow. In the boardroom, less is more; a boardroom of three is ideal. For the author, anyone you involve with your company should be involved full time. Also, a company does greater the less it pays the CEO for this implies uncommon commitment and communicates goodwill. If you get the founding moment right, you can do more than create a valuable company, you can steer its distant future towards the creation of new things instead of the stewardship of inherited success. you might even extend its founding indefinitely. THE MECHANICS OF THE MAFIA: the author exposes here that an ideal company culture should be such people should enjoy going to office such that time becomes nonexistent. He advocates that whatever private stuffs or pets that make an employee comfortable should be allowed as long as it makes the person perform best and this typifies the mechanics of the mafia. He states that a company culture doesn’t exist except the company itself. You need people who are not just skilled on paper but who can work closely together after they are hired. You will attract the employees you need if you will explain to them your mission; why you are doing something important that no one is going to get done, not just why its important in general. Your strongest passion should be the opportunity to do an irreplaceable work on a unique problem alongside great people. He maintains that from the outside, everyone in your company should be different in the same way but on the inside, every individual should be sharply distinguished by her work. He says: “the best thing I did as a manager at PayPal was to make every person in the company responsible for just one thing” the author reveals that start ups are almost like cults but that the difference is that cultists tend to be fanatically wrong about something important while start up founders are fanatically right about something those outside it have missed. IF
YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME?
Most people who are innovation and engineering driven often never think about sales or distribution as they strive to change the world through their ideas. The reality is that if you cant sell it, then, it’s of little value building it. he stresses that advertising doesn’t make one buy a product right away but exists to embed subtle impressions that will drive sales later and anyone who cant acknowledge its likely effect on himself is double deceived. He reveals that all sales men are actors and their priority is persuasion not sincerity and like acting, sales work best when \hidden. Every business that will last should have invisible elements of sales embedded in all they do; it must be subtle because, if its exposed, it loses its power. He stresses that complex sales like selling ice to an Eskimo works best when one doesn’t have sales men at all. Advertising can work for start ups, especially if its economically feasible and sustainable. He maintains that the mother of all marketing is viral marketing which works when you have a product that encourages users to invite their friends to become users too. He reveals that a company should sell more than its products; you must also sell your company to employees and investors and that no company should assume that people will admire it without having a public relations strategy. He concludes this section by saying that everyone has a product to sell whether they are employees, founders or investors.
MAN AND MACHINE:
a default analysis of this age may seem to suggest that technology is taking over the role of man but that’s far from the truth. He maintains that the valuable businesses of the coming age will be built by entrepreneurs who seek to empower people rather than make them obsolete. Computers don’t compete with men, rather, they compliment men. Humans have intentionality; we make plans and can make decisions in complicated cases but machines are the opposite; they efficiently make sense of large amount of data but cannot be intentional in making basic judgments that would be simple for any human. Computers are tools, not rivals and we should always ask: ‘how can computers help humans solve hard problems. Technology is supposed to increase our mastery over nature and reduce the role of chance in our lives.
SEEING GREEN:
at the start of the 21st century, the business of harnessing the forces of nature to reveal clean sources of energy was springing up everywhere. They promised to solve great problems, especially by harnessing the energy of the sun but almost all failed due to their neglect to ask the seven questions every business should answer: 1. Can you create a breakthrough technology instead of just incremental improvements. 2. Is now the right time for your particular business. 3. Are you starting with a big share of a small market; monopoly. 4. Do you have the right team. 5. Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your products. 6. Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years from now. 7. Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don’t see. The author contends that social entrepreneurship which is what green techs claim to be is a great idea but doesn’t end up great in practicality, because, they aim to combine the best of both worlds and do well by doing good and usually, they end up doing neither. He stresses that doing something different is what is good for the society and is also what allows a business to profit by monopolizing a new market.
THE FOUNDER’S PARADOX:
this chapter is about why it’s more powerful and at same tie more dangerous for a company to be led by a distinctive individual instead of an interchangeable manager. This is because, management is simply about containing change and uncertainty. The author tries to posit that founders are not extremists and are equally, not normal. He goes on to say that they oscillate between the two extremes Must there be anything unusual about someone for him to be able to be outstanding? Perhaps the very nature of uncommon success is common. Analyzing the lives of great founders starting from Howard Hughes, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs to Sean Parker validates this claim. He concludes this by stating that Founders are important not because they are the only ones whose works have value but rather, because, a great founder can bring out the best work from everyone at his company.
STAGNATION OR SINGULARITY?
This chapter tries to guess what the future may look like based on some intelligent projections and speculations. Some claim that it may portend fortune and ruin, some say that it may converge like a plateau, still, some claim that it may lead to a collapse that may lead to extinction and the last group say that the future would take off towards an infinitely greater future. The author maintains that without new technology to relieve competitive pressures, stagnation is likely to erupt into conflict and in the case of a conflict, on a global scale, stagnation collapses into extinction. He concludes the book by reminding us that we cannot take for granted that the future will be better and that means that we need to work to create it today.
