The value chain for any given consumer market is divided into three parts: suppliers, distributors, and consumers/users. The best way to make outsize profits in any of these markets is to either gain a horizontal monopoly in one of the three parts or to integrate two of the parts such that you have a competitive advantage in delivering a vertical solution. In the pre-Internet era the latter depended on controlling distribution.
Snippets
I really, really want as many people as possible to have the ability to engage in entrepreneurship, because there's a certain group of people who cannot work for other people, and they should have options, even in the digital world.
- Tobi Lutke, The Observer Effect: Sriram Krishnan interviews Tobi Lutke
Everyone belongs to a tribe and underestimates how influential that tribe is on their thinking.
- Morgan Housel, How People Think