Chapter 6: Lie to me

#stealing# “Stealing is a core competence of high-growth tech firms... When history is written, by the winners, terms such as inspired by and benchmarked replace less savory terms... Industry pioneers often end up with arrows in their backs—while the horsemen arriving later, get to feed off the carcasses of their predecessors by learning from their mistakes, buying their assets, and taking their customers.”
“The point is not that young companies just ’steal’ things to become great, but that they see value where others don’t, or are able to extract value where others can’t.”
#borrowing# “This is similar to building a house and having the country inspector show up as you are putting on the finishing touches. As she changes the locks she informs you, ‘You have to rent this from us’.”
#key to great cons# “ The key to a great con is that the victim never realizes he was conned—indeed, he believes he is about to be a big winner right up until the last moment.”
#break the law# “ Aspirational horsemen always show a willingness to go to market in ways unavailable to their old-guard competition.”