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Copying Won’t Save You — Here’s What Will

In Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future, Peter Thiel explains the difference between two kinds of progress:

Horizontal progress: copying what already works, going from one to many. It feels safe, but it rarely creates breakthroughs.

Vertical progress: going from zero to one, building something entirely new. That’s where lasting value is created.

I’ve seen this lesson play out in my own industry — design, marketing, and content. When we tried to compete by imitation, we blended into the noise. Clients already had endless choices, and we had no edge.

Everything changed when we applied Thiel’s framework:

We asked the contrarian question: what truth about design and content do we see that others overlook? For us, it was that creativity isn’t just about visuals or campaigns — it’s about meaning. About shaping messages that endure, not just trends that fade.

We focused on monopoly: building a niche so unique in storytelling that competitors couldn’t easily copy it.

And we embraced definite optimism: not just hoping to survive, but planning with a clear vision of how design and content can create real client impact.

That was our zero-to-one moment. It gave us resilience. It gave us growth.

The bigger truth? The future of any industry isn’t built by repeating what exists. It’s built by creating what only you can bring into the world — and making it last.

Thanks for watching ShyVlogs with me, Shybu.

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