Peter Thiel

1. Start in a narrow market and expand
   1. You want to be a one of a kind company in a small market to begin with
   2. You do not want to be the 10th company doing xyz
2. Characteristics
   1. Proprietary tech - 10x better than any alternative on an important metric
   2. Network effects - value increases with increasing adoption
   3. Economies of scale - becomes cheaper as you scale

Blue ocean strategy

1. Business has two kinds of markets, red and blue oceans
   1. Red - existing industries and markets. Industry boundaries and rules of competition are well defined. Companies strive to outperform rivals and grab a bigger market share. As the space gets crowded, fierce competition turns the water bloody.
   2. Blue - unknown markets, demand gets created. Most blue oceans emerge when the companies alter the rules of an existing market.
      1. Combining the best of different industries
         1. Circus + Opera
         2. Zappos - traditional shoe store + best of online store
      2. Targeting different buyers than existing players