Infinite Leverage

We revere the tangible above all else — money, technology, and measurable connections. These are the things we can see, touch, quantify, and display as proof of our progress and success.

We dedicate ourselves to chasing traditional forms of leverage. We work tirelessly to accumulate wealth, believing it will grant us security and influence. We obsess over gaining access to the latest tools, convinced they will give us a competitive edge. We cultivate relationships with the “right” people, hoping their proximity to power will amplify our own ability to shape outcomes.

But history has shown us, time and time again, that the most potent multiplier isn’t something you can hold in your hands or deposit in a bank. It’s not a gadget, a network, or a gold-plated Rolodex.

It’s a single, well-timed, well-placed idea. Ideas are the invisible levers of history, quietly altering markets, decisions, and destinies while the rest of the world scrambles to catch up.

If you want infinite leverage, don’t look outward — look inward, to the infinite scalability of thought.

One idea, articulated with clarity and precision, can shift an entire market. Think about the way a single investment memo can move billions of dollars in capital. A well-placed thesis — “The internet will transform commerce,” “AI will replace X industry,” “This is the future of clean energy” — can spark a frenzy of action that reshapes economies.

Investors make decisions, industries pivot, new players rise to prominence, and old ones scramble to adapt, all because of a concept.

Written ideas have a strange kind of magic. They move people, yes; but perhaps more critically, they move systems. The right idea, expressed the right way, can ricochet across markets and borders faster than any other form of leverage. A well-crafted essay, a thread, even a single tweet can spark a chain reaction.

When Marc Andreessen (I know, but bear with me) published his now-famous essay, Why Software Is Eating the World, he wasn’t offering an observation — he was planting a flag in the ground. The idea was catalytic. It reframed the way people thought about software’s role in the economy and spurred waves of investment into tech startups, many of which are now household names. The essay described a possible reality, and then shaped it into being.

But this isn't confined to dramatic, market-moving moments. The true power of ideas lies in their ability to compound over time.

Knowledge doesn’t depreciate. It doesn’t rust or rot or lose its value the way physical assets do. In fact, it’s the opposite: knowledge grows. It builds on itself, layering insights upon insights until something entirely new emerges. This is the principle of compound interest, applied to thought.

When Isaac Newton famously said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants,” he was describing the cumulative power of ideas — how each generation’s innovations become the foundation for the next. Without Newton’s laws of motion, you don’t get space travel. Without the printing press, you don’t get the Enlightenment. Without the internet, you don’t get the explosion of digital economies.

Every idea you absorb, every concept you internalize, becomes part of your intellectual toolbox. The more you accumulate, the more powerful your thinking becomes — not linearly, but exponentially. Every book you read, every problem you solve, and every insight you glean adds to a reservoir of intellectual leverage that compounds over time. The more you know, the more you can do.

The third and perhaps most profound form of idea-based leverage is the power of emphatic, slam-your-first-down decisions. Every major breakthrough, every industry-shaking innovation, and every world-changing movement can be traced back to a moment of choice.

Someone, somewhere, got off the fence and made a decision — and that decision set off a cascade of events that altered the course of history.

Not all decisions are created equal. Some are mundane and have little lasting impact. Others are pivotal, carrying the weight of exponential consequences. The ability to identify these high-leverage moments and act decisively is what separates those who shape the world from those who are shaped by it.

Consider Jeff Bezos deciding to leave his lucrative Wall Street job to start selling books on the internet. At the time, it seemed like a gamble — a small, specific choice made by an ambitious individual. But in hindsight, it was one of the most consequential decisions in modern business history.

I have thoughts about Bezos. Many of them highly critical, compounded by his decision to tie down the Washington Post's editorial board in a critical moment. But his decision still rings out. That single choice fundamentally transformed the way the world shops, consumes media, and even thinks about supply chains. Decision-based leverage doesn’t require vast resources or power to activate. It requires clarity, timing, and the courage to act.

Ideas can spread —but they can also explode. A concept introduced in one corner of the globe can go viral overnight, sparking movements, markets, or revolutions. We’ve seen this with the rise of cryptocurrencies, where an obscure idea from a pseudonymous figure — Satoshi Nakamoto — grew into a trillion-dollar asset class in just over a decade.

We’ve seen it with social movements like #MeToo, which started as a whisper and became a global roar, forcing institutions to confront their failures on an unprecedented scale. These moments of leverage are happening all around us, all the time, and the ability to recognize and harness them is no longer optional.

Unlike money, which tends to concentrate in the hands of a few, or technology, which requires specialized knowledge (and frequently, capital) to access, ideas are inherently egalitarian. Anyone, anywhere, can come up with a transformative concept. It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in a corporate boardroom or a coffee shop. The barriers to entry are low, but the potential rewards are infinite.

A teenager with a smartphone can launch a billion-dollar startup or spark a social movement with nothing more than their thoughts. This is the promise — and the peril — of our modern age. The same tools that amplify genius also amplify nonsense. The same platforms that spread progress also spread misinformation. The challenge, then, is to wield this leverage responsibly.

Don’t just chase money, technology, or connections. Those things are valuable, but they’re finite. Follow the ideas. Write, read, think, learn. Build your intellectual arsenal. Cultivate the ability to recognize high-leverage moments and act decisively. Remember that the most powerful tools you have aren’t the ones you can see or touch — they’re the ones you carry in your mind.