This essay argues that startups are the most effective way to create wealth and get rich by compressing intense work into a few years with both measurement and leverage. The author explains that wealth is created, not zero-sum, and that small groups working on hard technical problems can be exponentially more productive than corporate employees. The key to startup success is combining measurable performance (through smallness) with leverage (through technology) while focusing relentlessly on acquiring users.

• •Startups allow individuals to compress a lifetime of wealth creation into a few years by working extremely hard with both measurement and leverage
• •Wealth is fundamentally what people want, not money itself, and it can be created rather than merely redistributed
• •Small groups of talented people working on hard technical problems can be 10-100 times more productive than average corporate employees
• •The best defense against competition is tackling genuinely difficult technical problems that are hard to replicate
• •Number of users is the most reliable metric for startup success and what acquirers, investors, and competitors care about most

Bill Gates, Microsoft, IBM, Viaweb, Yahoo, Steve Jobs, McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Sam Walton, RCA, Philo Farnsworth, Adam Smith, Thomas Edison, Soviet Union, Silicon Valley, Florence, Santa Clara