What Paul Graham thinks about capitalism
Co-founder of Y Combinator and Viaweb; essayist at paulgraham.com.
Everything they publish, on ppll ↗
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2 dated positions, 2023 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Paul Graham has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsThe way to win at capitalism is to focus on what it actually does (make customers' lives better) rather than the socialist caricature of it (squeeze every penny out of them). The latter gets you 2x returns at best, whereas making new things for people can get you 10x.
- 3 years earlier
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Their wordsBut superlinear returns for performance are a feature of the world, not an artifact of rules we've invented. We see the same pattern in fame, power, military victories, knowledge, and even benefit to humanity. In all of these, the rich get richer.