Zero to One by Peter Thiel

The subtitle of this book is "Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future". Since we consider ourselves entrepeneurs — and by extension consider our writing careers a startup — I figured this would be a valuable read. And I was right. Lessons learned on next page. 

Less #1: Competition Is Bad, Monopolies Are Good
Competition drives prices down until margins are so slim hardly anyone can survive. It's hard to stand out in an extremely crowded market place, and it's hard to distinguish yourself. (This kills lots of restaurants.)

This lesson can be applied to pursuing $ as a screenwriter. Time spent trying to break through crowded marketplaces with little room for exciting, different material (see: network selling season) is probably time wasted.

Time spent writing in your unique voice, about unique worlds, places and times, in a unique way... Is time spent well.

No matter how good your BLANK moves in with BLANK and their ZANY BLANK pilot is, there is too much noise there, and it's going to struggle to break through.

This is also good to think about from a branding stand point. When breaking in, it's a good idea to fully embrace your most extreme, unique self. That's the kind of work that will turn some people off, sure, but it will also create some REAL, TRUE fans. 

True fans will help your business grow, they will help you find new fans, they will stand behind everything you do.

Darren Aronofsky's career seems to follow this trajectory. 

2. Be a Definite Optimist
A definite optimist is someone who thinks the future will be great, and they have a definite plan on how to get there. It seems like all great entrepeneurs think that way, an we do too. Still this is important to keep in mind. Always remain optimistic and always have a plan.

Career strategy is the plan. Creating a hit show is the optimism. 

Interestingly, Thiel points out that most hipsters are Indefinite Pessimists. They feign apathy because they believe everything will be bad. They don't know exactly how, but they know it.

This attitude creates a lot of the work that Chelsea and I use as a counterpoint to our voice and style... So much stuff is pessimistic or cynical. Our work is not. I guess that comes down to being a Definite Optimist. The photo below provides nice context for this idea on a global scale.

​Thiel's explanation of hipsters: "If everything wroth doing has already been done, you may as well feign an allergy to achievement and become a barista." 

3. Did you know that the unibomber was a professor at UC Berkeley? He wrote a 35,000 word manifesto proclaiming that his goal was to destroy the progress humankind as made. He reasoned that if he destroyed the progress, people would once again have hard problems to solve, and since solving hard problems makes people happy, positive changes would come from his unibombing. I never knew that, but it was pretty interesting to read about. 

Solving hard problems definitely leads to satisfaction. And people definitely CREATE problems when there's an absence of problems to solve. This could be an interesting lens through which to view a potential character in the future. 

4. Invest in 10X or Greater
Thiel writes that the secret to a good VC fund is the discipline to only invest in companies with the potential for HUGE growth in the future. 

A similar discipline should be applied when choosing what concepts to write, and what opportunities to pursue. 

Which idea has the biggest chance of 10xing my results?

Does one market dominate all the others? Is one sales channel 5x more powerful than the others? Etc...

5. The 80/20 Rule
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this idea, and Thiel once again brought it into my orbit. The general principal states that 20% of WHATEVER yields 80% of the results. (At least that's the most useful interpretation for our purposes). 

So the question is: how can we apply it to our writing?

Which 20% of our samples can create 80% of our work? What 20% of opportunities should we pursue, based on the idea that those opportunities can unlock 80% of our success?

This principle could be used to justfiy NOT chasing after jobs that we don't really want, or that don't have a huge upside after the job has ended. (See: writing sketch packets, or selling to online companies that are still trying to find their footing). 

Another interesting point: this rule surely applies on the other side of this business as well. 20% of writers make 80% of the money. Let's keep that in mind to keep the drive alive, and let's be part of that 20%. 

6. Get Relationship Foundations Right
You can only start a company — or a relationship — once. You need to define your expectations and set the right tone early on, or the relationship will not satisfy you long term.

Very important re: representation and creative partners.

7. Carefully Consdider Cash Bonuses
I have floated the idea of using cash bonuses to incentivize our reps to go above and beyond on our behalf. We want them to put us ahead of their other clients, we want them to push themselves for us and reach higher for us, and a cash bonus could be a decent way to incentivize that. 

Thiel makes an interesting point on that topic vis a vis start ups. He says never pay people in cash when you can pay them in equity. Cash payment teaches employees that the value is in the company as it already exists. Equity payment teaches employees that the value is in what the company will become. 

On cash bonuses, he says "A cash bonus is slightly better than a cash salary — at least it's contingent on a job well done. But even so-called incentive pay encourages short-term thinking and value grabbing. Any kind of cash is more about the present than the future."

The question for us is: IS THIS TRUE IN OUR BUSINESS?

I've never heard of cash bonuses for reps, but that makes me think it's a good idea. Besides, no one is ACTUALLY working for equity in the start up sense of the word... They aren't pining away for a big IPO pay day down the line, they are working for 10% of what we make RIGHT NOW, and that's just as much about the present as a cash salary.

Importantly, everyone working with us right now is thinking about us like a start up. They are basically taking 10% or 5% or whatever of nothing. So even though it's all very PRESENT MOMENT, it's still forward looking because of the nature of our status in the business.

I don't know. A lot to think about. I'm just interested in the powers we might be able to unlock by treating this as much like a business as we can, and by treating our partners like partners, yes, but also like employees (b/c that is technically what they are).