Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 9 Notes Essay

blakemasters:

Here is an essay version of my class notes from Class 9 of CS183: Startup. Errors and omissions are my own. Credit for good stuff is Peter’s entirely. 

Class 9 Notes Essay—If You Build It, Will They Come?

 I. Definitions 

Distribution is something of a catchall term. It essentially refers to how you get a product out to consumers. More generally, it can refer to how you spread the message about your company. Compared to other components that people generally recognize are important, distribution gets the short shift. People understand that team, structure, and culture are important. Much energy is spent thinking about how to improve these pieces. Even things that are less widely understood—such as the idea that avoiding competition is usually better than competing—are discoverable and are often implemented in practice.

But for whatever reason, people do not get distribution. They tend to overlook it. It is the single topic whose importance people understand least. Even if you have an incredibly fantastic product, you still have to get it out to people. The engineering bias blinds people to this simple fact. The conventional thinking is that great products sell themselves; if you have great product, it will inevitably reach consumers. But nothing is further from the truth.

There are two closely related questions that are worth drilling down on. First is the simple question: how does one actually distribute a product? Second is the meta-level question: why is distribution so poorly understood? When you unpack these, you’ll find that the first question is underestimated or overlooked for the same reason that people fail to understand distribution itself.

The first thing to do is to dispel the belief that the best product always wins. There is a rich history of instances where the best product did not, in fact, win. Nikola Tesla invented the alternating current electrical supply system. It was, for a variety of reasons, technologically better than the direct current system that Thomas Edison developed. Tesla was the better scientist. But Edison was the better businessman, and he went on to start GE. Interestingly, Tesla later developed the idea of radio transmission. But Marconi took it from him and then won the Nobel Prize. Inspiration isn’t all that counts. The best product may not win. 

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(Source: blakemasters)

Help Bring Clean Water to the Billion Without It!

This might be the most meaningful birthday of my life. Sorry, it’s not an actual party this time, though. BUT, it’s for a really great cause I hope some of us can get behind.

With your help, we can change 100 people’s lives. I’m not sure I’ve ever made this much of a positive impact in even 1 life. But if we each contribute a little, we can drastically improve 100 people’s lives in a sustainable manner. 

We’re so lucky to be living here, and sometimes forget that there are almost a billion people living without clean water. A BILLION! And often times, the water they’re using is contaminated with many deadly diseases that could easily be prevented. 30,000 people will die this week alone. The lucky ones won’t, but still have to walk for hours every day to get a little dirty water for their families to use.

If you give $23, it will change a person’s life. I know some of us are pretty broke right now, and possibly deep in student debt. If you can’t give $23, I understand but really hope you’d consider giving something. Anything helps.

Unlike other non-profits, 100% of all these donations go directly toward water projects. People in the community help build it, and a local committee is elected to maintain it in the future. And about 18 months after this campaign ends, charity: water will show us where and how every dollar we raised ended up helping in the field. We’ll see GPS coordinates, photos and more details about the communities we’ve impacted.

Please help, and we can change the world for some less fortunate friends.

Link to my fundraiser:
http://mycharitywater.org/philanthroparty

Matt Nish

Jimmy Carter Called It Back in ‘79

“In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does but by what one owns.”

I Want to Know How To Help My Friends Find Purpose

It’s hard to figure out what we want to do with our lives, the things we’re really passionate about and believe will lead to a lifetime of fulfillment.  I’m seeing more friends having trouble with this, and I wish I knew how to help.  I can tell them to find a purpose, but even that can be difficult to do.

I want to figure out a way to help my friends, the ones still trying to find their path, their purpose.  It doesn’t need to be super specific, even some broad life direction would be so valuable.  If they just knew what they wanted to do in their lifetime, then they could easily assess their current situation and know if it needs changing.  They could find jobs that truly fulfill them, and make decisions based on maximizing long-term happiness.  They could have a purpose-driven life.

I think it takes self-awareness, through moments of self-reflection.  I think it takes new experiences, personal growth, trying things out, and thinking about how those experiences make you feel.

It can’t be a life dictated, but a life discovered.

I wish I could just give these friends enough direction to discover themselves.  I wish I could give them the opportunities needed for self-discovery.  I just don’t know how…or if the way I’d try to do it is right.  

If you have any suggestions, please do share.

How To Find An Endless Source Of Motivation & Lasting Fulfillment

What do you want to do with your life?

Our society trains us to think that the traditional educational path will lead us to happiness, and keeps us too career-oriented from the get-go.  Instead, we should be purpose-driven, or problem-oriented.  We should be taught to focus on our life’s purpose and ambitions, or the problem in the world we’d like to solve, not what highest-paying job our degrees will get us.  Even Salman Khan (creator of the Khan Academy) writes that “high school and college degrees are not ends by themselves. They are supposed to be means to an end and that end is a happy and productive life.”