2 days ago
- California's mild climate provided marginal space, enabling startups like Apple, HP, and Google to begin in garages, lowering the activation energy for new ideas.
- Great new ideas often come from outsiders because they have nothing to lose, can take risks, and are not constrained by the disadvantages of insiders like excessive expectations, inability to take risks, and corrupt tests.
- The most honest tests are in fields like math and physics, while corrupt tests in fields like art and business lead to a lame elite, making outsider success more likely but often unrecognized.
- Outsiders can compete with insiders by taking advantage of direct contact with the medium, working on small and inexpensive things, focusing on new platforms, and pursuing contrarian projects.
- The defining advantage of insiders is an audience, but the Internet has made audiences more accessible to outsiders, democratizing the ability to gain attention.
- The best strategy for marginal people is to 'just try hacking something together,' embracing risk, learning from mistakes, and ignoring criticism of being 'inappropriate' as a sign of success.