Book SummaryBold, by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Bold

Over the past few decades, technology has fundamentally altered our way of life. According to Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler, it’s also changed the nature of business and the steps up-and-coming entrepreneurs must take to succeed. Technology has caused products and industries to develop at an exponential rate, making old ways of innovating and competing obsolete. If entrepreneurs fail to adapt to this new rate of change, their success will either be short-lived or nonexistent. To achieve and maintain success—the ability to change the world in some way—in the technological age, Diamandis and Kotler argue that entrepreneurs must adjust their mindset and strategies so they’re always ahead of the exponential curve.

Diamandis is a physician, engineer, and entrepreneur. He’s founded over 20 companies, including The XPRIZE Foundation, Singularity University, Celularity, and [Bold Capital...

Bold Summary Step #1: Become an Exponential Innovator

To achieve and maintain success in the digital era, the authors argue that entrepreneurs must become exponential innovators—this means adopting a ceaseless commitment to creating daring and novel ideas, products, or services that change the world in some way. (The authors refer to this as having a “bold mindset.”)

Becoming an exponential innovator is important because, in the age of the internet, innovations are never safe from competition. Once an idea or product is made available online, it develops at an exponential rate because anyone anywhere can instantaneously access and share it. This means that someone will inevitably use your idea to create something better. The only way to avoid this inevitability is to ceaselessly innovate and outperform yourself before someone else does—to become an exponential innovator.

There are two main components that make exponential innovators successful and that you must adopt to become one—psychological strengths and innovators’ habits. Psychological strengths are the mental abilities that give you the confidence and motivation necessary to pursue daring ideas. Innovators’ habits are the strategies and techniques you...

Bold Summary Step #2: Build Credibility With a Closed Network

Once you’ve adopted the psychological skills and innovators’ habits necessary to become an exponential innovator, you must create a support network. Your support network will help advance your innovation from the infant stage—a good idea—into a large-scale success: a publicly-endorsed innovation that has changed the world in some way.

We’ve organized the authors’ ideas on networking into two themes. First, create a closed network of people that you have personal relationships with. These people will help you build credibility by offering the critical feedback, connections, and resources necessary for you to accomplish your micro-goals. The people in your closed network are specifically chosen by you.

After creating a closed network and accomplishing your micro-goals, create an open network of people who may not know you personally but support—often financially—your innovation. These people will help you achieve large-scale success. Unlike your closed network, any member of the public can choose to join your open network.

Keith Ferrazzi’s Four Types of Support Networks

In _Never Eat Alone,...

Bold Summary Step #3: Reach Large-Scale Success With an Open Network of Investors

The third step in creating a successful innovation, and the second part of building a support network, is to create an open network of members of the public who’ll provide you with the finances and popularity necessary for your innovation to succeed.

Why do you need an open network to succeed? Diamandis and Kotler elaborate that the final step to releasing your innovation with high credibility is to capture public attention through excellent advertising and press coverage. This will allow your innovation to reach as many people as possible and achieve true success—the ability to change the world in some way. However, the necessary publicity requires more funds than your closed network members can provide—hence the necessity of open network members who’ll invest in your cause.

Are Investors Necessary for Large-Scale Success?

In Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson claim that instead of seeking an open network of investors to fund the final stages of your product release, [you should actually avoid outside funding...

Shortform Exercise: Develop an Exponential Innovator’s Strengths

Adopting an exponential innovator’s psychological strengths is crucial for creating successful innovations—ones that are completely novel and change the world in some way. This exercise will help you identify whether or not you’re exhibiting these strengths and how you can improve them.

To determine whether you’re thinking unconventionally and autonomously, consider the novelty of your recent innovative ideas. List these ideas below and ask yourself: What other products, services, or ideas like these currently exist? How easy or difficult was it for you to generate original ideas, and why? (For example, maybe you’re working on an idea for a new movie. Consider whether there are numerous other movies based on the same premise or framework.)