[markpundmann]

Does this remind anyone else of Peter Thiel's notes on value systems? The entire time, I was thinking about how Peter was emphasizing that finding the right size market was key. Too big, and the competition erodes your profit away. The higher level tiered companies had to face much more competition, and Apple utilized that by having them compete with each other.

If you are interested in learning more about this, I highly recommend reading Economics of Strategy as it talks about the benefits and costs of being horizontally and vertically integrated. There are also some good anecdotes on how one can obtain economic profits, which reflects the opportunity cost of a venture, compared to accounting profit which just takes into account the total profits, through various forms such as competitive advantages.

Value Systems: http://blakemasters.com/post/20955341708/peter-thiels-cs183-...

Economics of strategy: href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/111827363X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=...