You create value when you fulfill the unmet desires of people better than the alternatives they have (from competitors).
The idea that capitalism rewards things that are rare and valuable was proposed by Scott Adams in his essay on career advice where he recommended readers to master various skills until no one else has the mix that you have. That’s great advice.
The same applies to startups too as the only way you succeed in the market if you provide something that’s rare and valuable to customers. For example, Facebook succeeded because it fulfilled the desire of college students to know who from their class they could date (the valuable part). Before Facebook, social networks weren’t limited to a particular college and hence it was difficult to find people who are in the same class and are also looking for a relationship. By limiting signups initially to Harvard University, Facebook created a destination for dating. No other social network did this at that point in time (the rare part). Notice that had Facebook done only the valuable part or only the rare part, it would have not succeeded. ...
