Superlinear Returns

Paul Graham argues that returns for performance are superlinear, a feature of the world rather than an artifact of rules people invented, and that ambitious people should understand this. He names two fundamental causes: exponential growth, as with startups whose high growth rates make them immensely valuable, and thresholds, as with winner-take-all outcomes. He says work that compounds, either directly or by teaching you, is the most obvious route to superlinear returns, and that these returns are growing as organizations matter less.