Peter Thiel (of PayPal fame) recently wrote a book called “Zero to One”. It’s an incredible read. The book explores a simple and yet incredible powerful framework:
Horizontal (or extensive) progress means copying things that work — going from 1 to n. Horizontal progress is easy — as we already know how the future will look like (it’s simply a slightly better version of the present).
Vertical (or intensive) progress means doing new things — going from 0 to 1. Vertical progress is hard (and even hard to imagine) as you’re doing new things. Things which haven’t been done before.
Vertical progress, going from 0 to 1, is where the real opportunities lie. It’s where the billion dollar companies are made. It’s where you should play.
Go from 0 to 1.