There are two types of companies:

Tortoises and Hares

Hares are quick. They love the thrill of racing their competition. They move fast and stay lean. But their greatest strength is also their weakness. Hares act first and ask questions later. Sometimes, their speed gets the best of them and they’re forced to learn from a mistake.

Tortoises are slow. They move mindfully, thinking through each step before they take it. Tortoises see much further ahead than the hares; they know exactly where they’re going.

They carefully consider each move but act decisively. A tortoise rarely retraces its steps ⏤ one wrong turn can spell disaster.

While it takes them a while to get going, they can cover a lot of ground over time.

Sometimes it pays to be a hare, such as Facebook and Alphabet.

Other times, it pays to be a tortoise, like Apple and Tesla.

Trying to be both at once rarely turns out well.

https://garybasin.com/tortoises-and-hares/

Tortoises tend to fall under Thiel's Definite Optimism. They have a concrete vision for the world ⏤ you can picture what they're building next.

Hares tend to be more opportunistic ⏤ Indefinite Optimism. They have a broad purview ⏤ such as "organizing the world's information". Within their domain, they will go after the best opportunities as they find them.

The lean startup is the Hare. The fat startup is the Tortoise. We've been living in the age fo the Hare for a while. Is it for Tortoises to shine?

Wow super typos...

The lean startup is the Hare. The fat startup is the Tortoise. We've been living in the age of the Hare for a while. Is it time for Tortoises to shine?

This isn't intended to be a complete model. Successful companies exist that don't fall into these categories.

But some of the most successful tend to be clearly Tortoises or Hares. It's probably no coincidence.