Peter Thiel Jul 10, 2026
How to Build a Creative Monopoly
Avoiding undifferentiated competition, finding durable startup advantages, and thinking from first principles about markets that can compound.
startups strategy
Vicky Wenqing Li
Entrepreneur Software Engineer
Hi, I’m Vicky. Over the past decade, I’ve worked across sales and engineering, from adtech companies in China and Europe to software engineering projects for clients including Tesla, Workday, and Verisk in the U.S. In October 2025, I started working with AI agents through spec-driven development. Most of my attention shifted from reading code to shaping specs: defining what to build and clarifying how it should work. As I spent more time working with agents in Obsidian, I began using it for more than software development. That experience led me to what I’m building now: a workspace where humans and AI agents collaborate to think more clearly and connect the dots. Aside is an early piece of that workspace, bringing conversations and lightweight automations into the files.
Principles
- 01
Put customers first
Think from the customer’s perspective, own the work end-to-end, and deliver excellent work with care, quality, and accountability so customers get a hands-off experience and can focus on their business and life.
- 02
Know the ground
Work from facts that can be checked: revenue, tests, retention, reconciled counts, and direct customer failures. Keep independent checks outside the system being optimized, and let people, not tools, decide what “better” means.
- 03
Build with open standards & interoperability
Prefer interfaces, data formats, and workflows that connect cleanly with other tools. Durable systems should reduce fragmentation, not create more silos.
- 04
Design for flow Operations Insider defines Lean flow as the smooth, uninterrupted progression of work through the value stream, improved by removing bottlenecks and waste.
Create simple, thoughtfully designed experiences that reduce friction and distractions. Help people do meaningful work with clarity and joy.
- 05
Grow through intentional partnerships “国内回本周期大概18个月左右，海外要5到10年。” Cainiao VP Bi Jianghua said Cainiao Logistics Technology still pushes ZeeBot more aggressively overseas because customers there evaluate TCO and pay for stability, service, and full solutions; by April 2026 it had nearly 1,100 projects across 29 countries and regions.
Partner not just for reach, but for shared execution, better standards, and stronger long-term delivery.
Writing
Building
🪼⋆｡𖦹°🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
Obsidian + Discord
Aside
An agentic workspace in Obsidian — where humans and AI think, annotate, and build together in the same notes.
Collections
Tom DeMarco Jul 9, 2026
Slack
Brian's Notes summary of Tom DeMarco's case for healthy slack time: fewer burnout loops, less busywork, more room for reinvention, and better customer response.
management systems
Chad Jones May 21, 2026
A.I. and Our Economic Future
Even if AI can write all the software, GDP may still stay near its historical 2% growth path when the binding constraints shift to real-world bottlenecks software cannot scale.
ai economics
Russell McGuire Mar 24, 2026
The Algorithm
Jon McNeill's five-step operating framework from Tesla: question every requirement, delete unnecessary work, simplify and optimize, accelerate cycle time, and automate last.
startups systems