What important truth do very few people agree with you on? A good answer takes the following form: "Most people believe in x, but the truth is the opposite of x." If you can identify a delusional popular belief, you can find what lies hidden behind it: the contrarian truth.

The progress can take two forms:

1. Horizontal or extensive progress means copying things that work, going from 1 to n
2. Vertical or intensive progress means doing new things, going from 0 to 1

At the macro level, the single word for horizontal progress is globalization. The single word for vertical, 0 to 1 progress is technology.

The business version of our contrarian question is: what valuable company is nobody building? Creating value is not enough, you also need to capture some of the value you create.

Characteristics of monopoly

1. Proprietary technology
2. Network effect
3. Economies of scale
4. Branding

Building a monopoly