Bold

Think about your first cell phone and what you carry in your pocket today. A camera, a map, a flashlight, a bank, and a library all fit in the same device, and plenty of things that once cost a fortune are now free or cheap. Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler build on that sense of acceleration to argue that we're living in an age of unprecedented opportunities for entrepreneurs.

The book's central argument is that three forces have come together: technologies improving at an exponential rate, a bold mindset among the people using them, and collective tools, such as online funding and collaboration. Anyone who combines all three can accomplish, with limited resources, what once required governments and major corporations.

The book is enthusiastic and practical, with plenty of stories about entrepreneurs. Its promise is that boldness, applied well, can become both a business and a solution to major global problems.

The idea behind everything is the difference between linear and exponential growth. If you walk in a straight line, taking thirty steps, you'll travel thirty meters. If you double your distance with each step, from one to two, four, eight, you'll reach more than a billion meters on the thirtieth step, enough to circle the Earth many times.

This reasoning applies to technologies such as computers, sensors, and DNA sequencing, which often double in performance over short intervals while prices fall. The famous Moore's Law, about chips, is the best-known example, and the authors extend it to other fields.

The problem is that our brains think in linear terms. That's why we underestimate what's coming and feel surprised when something changes very quickly. The book aims to train readers to recognize this kind of curve before it runs them over.

The authors summarize a technology's path in six words beginning with D. First comes digitalization: when something becomes information, it starts following the logic of computers and improves quickly. Then comes deception, a phase when growth looks small, almost invisible, and everyone concludes that nothing came of it.

The third stage is disruption, when the curve suddenly shoots upward and the new overtakes the old, pulling the rug out from under established businesses. Photography is a common example: digital cameras started out weak, seemed like toys, and years later caused major film companies to lose their market.

The deception phase is the most dangerous. People who trust a linear pace think the new technology isn't worthwhile, while those who understand the curve prepare. The lesson is that a quiet beginning doesn't prove an idea is weak.