Power Laws and the Pareto Principle
In power-law domains a few observations produce most of the outcome and there is no stable typical case to anchor on. Venture portfolios are underwritten expecting one company to return the fund, and index gains concentrate in a handful of names. The operative question for any portfolio is which few positions are doing all the work.
8 books · 3 people behind it · 4 resources
Start here
- Zero to OnePeter Thiel, Blake Masters, 2014
- The Power LawSebastian Mallaby, 2022
- The Black SwanNassim Nicholas Taleb, 2007
The people behind it 3
Each person holds a book in this entry or names it in their own tags.
Founders 1
Academics 1
Journalists 1
Resources 4
- Tails, You WinMorgan Housel · essay · A tiny share of events drives nearly all returns.
- Birth, Death, and Wealth CreationMichael J. Mauboussin · paper · Corporate life cycles and where value actually accrues.
- Stock Market ConcentrationMichael J. Mauboussin · paper · How much of the index a handful of names carries.
- How People Get Rich NowPaul Graham · essay · Power-law wealth creation and why it shifted.
Books 8
Benoit Mandelbrot, Richard L. Hudson · 2004
Nassim Nicholas Taleb · 2007
T1 Zero to One
Peter Thiel, Blake Masters · 2014
Balaji S. SrinivasanEric WeinsteinMohnish PabraiNat EliasonPatrick O'ShaughnessyAlfred LinAna FabregaAnna ChengBen HorowitzBrett AdcockCasey NeistatChris DixonCodie SanchezDustin MoskovitzElon MuskEric JorgensonGuy ProopsJames AltucherJoel ConnollyKeith RaboisLuis von AhnMarc AndreessenMatt MullenwegMax LevchinMichael WongNiki ScevakReid HoffmanRyan PetersonSam AltmanSatya NadellaSophie BakalarSteph SmithTom Bilyeu
Didier Sornette · 2000 · Power laws, scaling and critical points across physical and social systems
Albert-Laszlo Barabasi · 2018 · Network science on how success and reputation compound unequally