Tech

Network effects are hard to build before hitting the critical mass

(Excerpt from Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) network effects are a double-edged sword. Successful platforms are very hard to compete against, but the same network effects that drive growth...

October 18, 2020| Tech Read More

Surge pricing is to alter demand and supply inbalance

(Excerpt from Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) Uber’s “surge pricing”—dynamic pricing that rises in response to high demand—is a direct attempt to balance supply and demand. Surge...

October 18, 2020| Tech Read More

Modern monopolies are facing fierce competition and fighting obsolescence

(Excerpt from Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) Monopolies are typically viewed as a result of market forces breaking down—the forces of supply and demand aren’t able to keep a company’s...

October 18, 2020| Tech Read More

Software alone is a commodity

(Excerpt from Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) (Fred Wilson) he has told what he called the “dentist office software story.” The story, “a modern day fable about defensibility in the...

October 18, 2020| Tech Read More

Technology may be an enabler for central planning

(Excerpt from Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) The core argument in favor of markets was always that they were more efficient than central planning. In the United States, we take that as gospel,...

October 18, 2020| Tech Read More

Give more capabilities without increasing complexity

(Excerpt from Bloomberg on Bloomberg) Humans are loath to change and nervous about anything difficult to understand. More capabilities, better efficiency, increased reliability, fewer controls—all are benefits buyers...

October 4, 2019| Tech Read More

7 questions every business must answer

(Excerpt from Zero to One by Peter Thiel) seven questions that every business must answer: The Engineering QuestionCan you create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements? The Timing QuestionIs now...

September 21, 2019| Strategy, Tech Read More

How to get your business idea?

(Excerpt from Zero to One by Peter Thiel) There are two kinds of secrets: secrets of nature and secrets about people. Natural secrets exist all around us; to find them, one must study some undiscovered aspect of the...

September 21, 2019| Strategy, Tech Read More

Be selective about what you work on. Think hard before you work hard.

(Excerpt from Zero to One by Peter Thiel) The power law is not just important to investors; rather, it’s important to everybody because everybody is an investor. An entrepreneur makes a major investment just by...

September 21, 2019| Focus, Life, Nonlinearity, Tech Read More

Rule for Venture Capital: Invest in companies with the potential to return the value of the entire fund

(Excerpt from Zero to One by Peter Thiel) Our results at Founders Fund illustrate this skewed pattern: Facebook, the best investment in our 2005 fund, returned more than all the others combined. Palantir, the...

September 21, 2019| Nonlinearity, Tech Read More

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