Learning Path 18
Contrarian Business Lessons
Where conventional wisdom fails: growth, pricing, partnerships, and what actually compounds.
- Advanced
- ~10h estimated
- 11 modules
- 64 topics
Suggested before this path:
Why this path matters
The most expensive mistakes come from advice that sounds right. This path pressure-tests it.
What you will understand
- Why the biggest players do things that look irrational.
- Where the conventional wisdom quietly gets it wrong.
Modules in this path
Losing Money on Purpose · Hidden Economics
- Companies Intentionally Losing Money
- Acquisition Subsidies
- Venture Pricing Distortion
- Predatory Pricing
- Loss Leaders
- Razor-and-blade Economics
Pricing as a Weapon · Hidden Economics
- Cross-subsidization
- Ecosystem Lock-in
- Switching Costs
- Network Effects
- Two-sided Marketplaces
- Data Flywheels
Lock-In and Flywheels · Hidden Economics
Moats at Scale · Hidden Economics
- The Costco Model
- Software Margins
- Bank Economics
- Insurance Float
- Airline Economics
- Restaurant Failure Economics
Famous Economic Machines · Hidden Economics
- Viral versus Sustainable
- Market Share versus Profit
- Businesses Built to Be Acquired
- The Payment Network and Why a Slice of Every Swipe Goes Somewhere Else
- The Streaming Catalogue and Content as a Depreciating Asset
- The Semiconductor Foundry and the Economics of Extreme Capital Intensity
Feedback Loops and Increasing Returns · Hidden Economics
- The Flywheel and What Separates a Real Loop From a Diagram
- Increasing Returns and Why the Winner Keeps Winning
- Path Dependence and the Accidents That Decide a Market
- Standards Races and the Fight to Become the Default
- Learning Curves and the Cost That Falls with Cumulative Volume
- Critical Mass and the Tipping Point Where a Market Stops Being Contested
Growth Is Not Free · Contrarian Lessons
- Why More Customers Can Make a Business Worse
- Why Growth Is Dangerous
- Why Debt Is not Automatically Bad
- Why Investors Are not Free Money
- Fake Revenue
- Valuation Is not Wealth
Money Myths · Contrarian Lessons
- Audiences That Never Monetize
- Why Great Products Fail
- Mediocre Products with Distribution Winning
- When Lower Prices Kill Demand
- When Price Increases Improve Profit and Sales
- The Truth About Passive Income Marketing
Product Myths · Contrarian Lessons
- The Case for Boring Businesses
- Why Founders Should not Do Every Job
- Systems Beating Hustle
- Cash Flow Beating Hype
- Ownership Beating Income
- Concentration versus Diversification
People and Process Myths · Contrarian Lessons
- Why Partnerships Fail
- Hiring Too Early
- Firing Too Slowly
- The Trap of Copying Competitors
- Chasing Trends Too Late
- Best Market versus Biggest Market