Do you have a plan to escape competition?

Peter Thiel's Zero to One is the book I've finished reading the fastest. His writing is incredibly crisp and memorable. His insights even crisper. Thiel puts words to what now seems like obvious virtues of great businesses.

It's become clear to me that as a founder, I need a clear plan of how to escape competition. Zero to One is my fuel for this plan.

Here's my three-part strategy that I'm excited to put into action:

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1. Great distribution

Step one on my plan is nailing distribution. I'm going for one market, with one method. Thiel says that if you can nail one strategy, this can make your company a monopoly and reap monopoly-sized profits. Failing to find one power law channel of distribution will break your company.

Thiel's contrarian insight is that power law applies to distribution just as much as it does to anything else. Find the one market, and the one communication channel that brings outsized results compared to the rest, and double down on the power law channel.

I will relentlessly iterate distribution channels, find the winner, and let the power law reiterate indefinitely. For me, finding that one golden channel that outperforms all others is the key to exponential growth.

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2. 10x improvement

10x improvements are destined for monopoly status. Thiel advocates my product or service has to be a 10x improvement in a valuable way over competition to give me the edge and advantage that'll make competition irrelevant. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing well.

In our abundance world, I can make a product and service 10X better by finding the points of leverage and the value customers want, then use this to inform innovations in systems, strategy and automation. If you want something to work better bad enough, you will be able to create a 10x improvement.

I will build a product or service that gives end users a 10x improvement in a meaningful aspect of their experience. This isn't just about incremental change – it's about upping the game.

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3. Secrets

"The best entrepreneurs know this: every great business is built around a secret that's hidden from the outside" – I just need to look at the world differently.

I am relentlessly building a mind by reading books, talking to people, and thinking deeply to see and get the secrets of the world that are right in front of me. All great monopolies are based on secrets, either in methodology, technology or knowledge. Apple with their countless patents are "secrets", the new Google; Perplexity's awesome AI search is a secret.

What I love about this approach is the idea that the next monopoly is hiding in plain sight – I just need to look at the world differently. I will build a habit of seeing the world as it is, from first principles, to discover the next secret no one is building.

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For me, this framework is a roadmap for creating outsized profits. Join in.

I hope you've found this post helpful.

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