Paul Graham's essay arguing that wealth is created by making things people want — not redistributed from others — and that startups are the most efficient mechanism for doing so.
Wealth is not a zero-sum game: the essay's core claim, against the folk theory that getting rich means taking from someone else. Graham argues wealth is created by making things that didn't exist before — products and services people value. Startups as wealth-creation vehicles: small teams with enormous leverage (software scales without marginal cost) can create disproportionate wealth. The measurement problem: in a large organization, individual contribution is obscured; startups offer a direct measure. One of the most circulated essays in startup culture.
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