Only the paranoid survive

author: Andy Grove

date completed: 2022-02-04

--"Only the paranoid survive...business success contains the seeds of its own destruction"

--"In technology, whatever can be done will be done. We can't stop these changes. We can't hide from them. Instead, we must focus on getting ready for them."

--The person in charge is always the last to know when a paradigm has changed. Seek ways to break this - outside views, skip levels, walk the floor, etc.

--Three rules of competition in a horizontal industry:
1) don't differentiate without a difference: don't introduce improvements to give advantage over competitor unless it gives significant advantage to customer.
2) opportunity from inflection points is fleeting.
The company that recognizes it and and moves first will gain the advantage.
3) Price what market will bear -> price for volume -> cut costs to make money at that price = economies of scale = barriers to entry

--Industries tend to shift from vertical to horizontal because it's difficult to be world-class and cost-competive in multiple levels; verticals will lose out to the company that specializes.

--"10x changes (strategic inflection points) generally originate in one of Porter's 5+1 forces"

--Beware the "inertia of success"/sustaining innovation: repeatedly doing what has succeeded in the past, rather than taking an honest assessment of real requirements and taking different actions

--"Most companies don't die because they are wrong; most die because they don't commit themselves. They fritter away their momentum and their valuable resources while attempting to make a decision. The greatest danger is in standing still."

---