<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">.Life isn’t fair – but it’s not an excuse to have a victim mindset – instead we must equip ourselves with knowledge of the potential obstacles and shortcuts</li><li class="ql-align-justify">An unfair advantage is a condition, asset or circumstance that puts you in a favourable business position (e.g. being tall in basketball, )</li><li class="ql-align-justify">There are five categories of unfair advantages – Money, Intelligence and insight, Location and luck, Education and expertise, Status</li><li class="ql-align-justify">The key to success is working hard and smart (on things you are lucky/have unfair advantages in) – it is not just about hard work or getting lucky</li></ul>

🚀 The book in 4 bullet points

<ul><li>There are two leading, opposing narratives on how success/wealth is attained: </li></ul><ol><li>Luck – rich people got rich due to factors outside their control (luck, timing, natural talent and fate) – their success wasn’t earned (fatalism)</li><li>Hard work – rich people deserve their riches because they earned it through hard work (meritocracy)</li></ol>

📑 Key Takeaways

• The reality is in the middle of these two:- You can be unlucky and still successful (e.g. Oprah Winfrey was raised in a poor, traumatising, unstable household but still became wildly successful)- But hard work can’t undo luck in all cases (e.g. if Warren Buffett was born black or a woman or in war-torn Iraq, no matter how much he worked, he wouldn’t have the same opportunities/success he did)

The key to success is working hard and smart (on things you are lucky/have unfair advantages in)An unfair advantage is a condition, asset or circumstance that puts you in a favourable business position

Examples of unfair advantages – being tall in basketball, being rich before starting a business, knowing someone at a company when applying for a job etc.

We ALL have unfair advantages

<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Can’t be easily copied or bought</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Unique to you﻿</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Build on each other and have a snowballing, multiplicative effect﻿</li><li class="ql-align-justify">For any early-stage startup, the startup’s UA = sum of individual founders’ UAs﻿</li></ul>This is why it’s important to choose founders that complement your UAs﻿

Properties of unfair advantages Can’t be easily copied or bought

<ul><li>Money – the capital you have/can easily raise</li></ul><ol><li>Money gives you a safety net, contingency and the power to scale (you need money to make money). </li></ol> <ul><li>Intelligence and Insight – ‘book smarts’, social + emotional intelligence and creativity</li></ul><ol><li>Business isn’t an exam – all aspects of intelligence are needed (not just ‘book smarts’)</li><li>Insight is required to find a need/problem in the market that can be solved</li></ol>

There are five categories of unfair advantages aka ( MILES )

<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Location and Luck – being in the right place at the right time</li></ul><ol><li class="ql-align-justify">A good location affects your vibe and makes it easier to make friends, find out business insights, have access to capital and better infrastructure</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Note – location isn’t just physical – it refers to your environment (which can be online)</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Luck/timing is important – you don’t want to be too early (i.e. VR) or too late (i.e. Bing)</li></ol> To be more lucky – maximise your ability to seize chances, trust your intuition, expect to be lucky, turn bad luck into learning opportunities and take more action

<ul><li>Education and Expertise – formal schooling and your self-learning/gained knowledge</li></ul><ol><li>Education can be formal/informal – doesn’t matter</li><li>Three main benefits from formal education – knowledge, network and signalling that comes with a degree.</li></ol> <ul><li>Status – social status (your network and connections) + your ‘personal brand’ (how you’re perceived) + your inner status (confidence and self-esteem)</li></ul>Status is your perceived ability to add valueIt’s comprised of three types of capital – economic (i.e. wealth), cultural (i.e. social class/subculture) and social (i.e. who you know)

<ul><li>Lots of money can make you complacent, wasteful and less hungry to succeed</li><li>A lack of intelligence can mean being more humble and willing to ask questions and less overthinking</li><li>A good location costs money and being frequently lucky means you may not develop the skills needed to develop your startup when luck runs out</li><li>A lack of status (i.e. being an outsider) reveals powerful insights and enables you to stand out/be memorable</li></ul>

All unfair advantages can be double-edged swords

I also had a strong tendency to do things the hard way without anyone’s help. Again, in this way, I threw any unfair advantages I had (like my parents being willing and able to invest in me but me choosing to go it alone) down the drain. I’ve foregone a lot of unfair advantages in my life in pursuit of true meritocratic ideals. The trouble was, as this book showed, our society was never purely meritocratic to begin with. I was driven by naive delusion.

We all have unfair advantages in life, whether we happen to be quick, have a talent for maths, a great feel for people. An unfair advantage is simply the element that gives you an edge over your competition. This innovative book shows how to identify your own unfair advantages and apply them to any project. Drawing on over two decades of hands-on experience, including as the first Marketing Director of Just Eat, the authors offer a unique framework for assessing your external circumstances in addition to your internal strengths. Hard work and grit aren't enough, so this book explores the importance of money, intelligence, location, education, expertise, status and luck in the journey to success. From starting your company, to gaining traction, raising funds and growth hacking, The Unfair Advantage helps you look at yourself and find the ingredients you didn't realise you already had, to succeed in the cut-throat world of business.

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