The Unfair Advantage: How You Already Have What It Takes to Succeed

by Ash Ali, Hasan Kubba

We all have unfair advantages in life, whether we happen to be quick, have a talent for maths, a great feel for people. An unfair advantage is simply the element that gives you an edge over your competition.

This innovative book shows how to identify your own unfair advantages and apply them to any project. Drawing on over two decades of hands-on experience, including as the first Marketing Director of Just Eat, the authors offer a unique framework for assessing your external circumstances in addition to your internal strengths.

Hard work and grit aren't enough, so this book explores the importance of money, intelligence, location, education, expertise, status and luck in the journey to success. From starting your company, to gaining traction, raising funds and growth hacking, The Unfair Advantage helps you look at yourself and find the ingredients you didn't realise you already had, to succeed in the cut-throat world of business.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Productivity, Personal Development, Entrepreneurship, Psychology

257 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 23, 2020

About the author

ASH ALI is the co-founder of Uhubs, a skills training platform to help entrepreneurs and professionals. He sold his first internet business at age 19. With over 20 years of hands-on experience creating and growing startups, he has consulted, advised, and invested in hundreds of startups.

Reviews

[Hamad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Review ✍️ Blog 📖 Twitter 🐦 Instagram 📷

“Life isn’t fair. Life is too random and arbitrary to balance out and give everyone an equal share. We don’t all have the same opportunities. We don’t all get what’s coming to us. That’s why we have to make sure we are compassionate to others and ourselves if life doesn’t always turn out quite as well as we’d hoped.”

I do believe that life is not fair but I also believe that that is not an excuse to just do nothing about it and envying successful people around us. I do believe in hard work, I even kind of dislike it sometimes when people call me smart for achieving things because they make it sound like the success was a given and not the result of hours of relentless work. I read this after seeing it in Dr. Ali’s book club which I consider an inspiration!

I remember once back in my forth year in medical school when a close friend of mine and I discusses and created a framework for success in med school and in life in general and we tried applying it to our colleagues and see what their “Unfair Disadvantage” was! Surprisingly, the framework kind of looks similar to the MILES framework discussed in this book which stands for Money, Intelligence and Insight, Luck and Location, Education and Expertise and finally Status! Here is a picture showing these:



I found the book to be very logical and well written (My only criticism was that some things were repeated like the definition of Unicorn companies -Mentioned 13 times and defined in almost half of those- but it is really a trivial thing and not significant in the larger picture) I thought the ideas were clear and the execution was great! I was hesitant at first because I thought the book was going to ignore the importance of hard work but it actually does not! It focuses on finding our area of strength and mixing it with hard work which I am a firm believer of. I also may have disagreed with some of the examples that considered learning something an unfair advantage because it seemed like a very fair one!

“It’s not about focusing on the negatives, it’s about knowing the realities and leveraging the unfair advantages that we do have to help us live our best lives.”

Summary: I have been enjoying business books lately and I found this one excellent and meeting my needs. It does feature a lot of interesting stories, the writing was easy and does not use jargon, the authors seem to be very nice, very successful people and the book was as engaging as it was helpful! Definitely recommend if you are interested in business/ entrepreneurship!

[Tam Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe that many people will not like this book if they hold dearly the belief that everyone is equal and that everyone has a FAIR chance in life. Well, I guess the reality is that it's not entirely true. Everyone has their own edges and this book works brilliantly on how we can find our own advantages and work on them when we first start out with a new business venture. Instead of spending time looking up to other successful figures and wishing we could be one of them, it's better invest the time in analyzing their whole life stories up until they got to that point. It could further add up or explain why they have become so successful. Instead of victimizing our lives through the misfortunes, somehow someway we could view them as our advantages, find a way to exploit them and use them to connect with other people. Not everyone's life is the same and no one can be you for you. Because of this uniqueness, the sooner we identify our own unfair advantages, the better we apply them to aid in our future successes.

[Rehmat · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a very rare book that has earned a five star from me, because one of my friends once told me that I was too miser in marking star to books. This book has not only cleared for me that what insight means and how to gain it, but it also changed my perspective about studying in elite universities and how one should cultivate networking and strengthening connections there. Building such non-current assets based on networking would ultimately pay off in starting and making career a success... A must read book

[Connor Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does not to give you the magical secret to success, because to be quite honest there is no such secret and no fixed path to success. There are many ways to succeed in life and many ways to measure success that isn't financial.

The thing that this book does, is try and get you to take a look at everything that you have going for you and realise that even though you probably don't have the same advantages as other success stories, you have your own set of advantages that you probably take for granted or even view as a disadvantage. This book invites you to change your views surrounding yourself and your own potential in life and inspires you to 'have a go' at pursuing your ambitions because there's a chance, however big or small that it might work out or at the very least you might learn something.

The focus of this book centres around 'start-up companies' and some of the stores surrounding the people that started them. It also gives some advice, although fairly limited, about how to go about starting your own business. Nevertheless, many of the core lessons from this book can be used by people who have other ambitions outside of start-ups, people looking to progress in their career, or change careers completely.

This book isn't very long plus you might see your own set of circumstances in a new light, so I'd say give it a go.

[Dr. Tobias Christian Fischer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I learned actually nothing: advantage is helping. That’s the key message. So what?

[Kaji Hussain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book allowed me to find out my unfair advantage and it has helped me personally grow my mindset and how to audit myself in regards to my unfair advantages and how to use it to accelerate myself.

[Andrew Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A breathe of fresh air. I really enjoyed this book, because it acknowledges unfair advantages in the specific context of getting a start-up off the ground,but also in life in general. The authors also give you a tool with which you can audit your own unfair advantages and mindset, which is great. Both Ash and Hasan seem to be very grounded individuals and this is probably due to their credentials and experience. Not being bombarded with platitudes like, 'You have to work really, really hard and then you can have what you want,' is very refreshing and empowering. But don't get me wrong, they are not positing being lazy, quite the opposite. Instead, they are pulling back the curtain on success and those who've made it, and their selective memories about the unfair advantages they enjoyed. Perhaps that is a little disingenuous as most people often don't realize how the deck is already stacked in their favour, or could be. Awareness starts with getting your mindset straight as this forms the foundation, then using the MILES tool to audit your unfair advantages and then getting after it. Simple, but not easy. But then again most things worth doing in life are like that. It's a great book, very inspiring and very applicable for anyone doubting themselves or agonizing about where and how to start.

[TΞΞL❍CK Mith!lesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book talks about:

The Success Equation
The MILES Framework
What's the value of understanding Unfair Advantages?
What if people don't think they have any Unfair Advantages?
The Importance of Mindset

Luck = when Opportunity meets Preparation.

It talks about the equation for success, the MILES framework for identifying our Unfair Advantages, the value of understanding our Unfair Advantages, how everyone has their own Unfair Advantages, and the importance of a reality-growth mindset running throughout it all.

This reminds me a lot of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. A lot of people talk about the 10,000-hour rule in that book, but the other big idea is the fact that some people have these kinds of unfair advantages.

This is actually a really eye-opening book.
I'm from a developing country and used to look at it from a negative stand, but this helped me a lot to change that view.

[Christopher Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book presents a framework to self evaluate in what they consider unfair advantages. They state that each individual has an advantage against other individuals that in some manner are unfair. These are: money, intelligence and insights, location and luck, education and expertise, and status.

They explain how you already have some advantage in each of those areas and how you may combine your lack with other person specifically to found a start up. Nevertheless, theses advantages are also valid for non entrepreneurs.

In my personal opinion the idea behind is very solid and the framework can be used to develop as a person.

The authors have written a clear and easy to read book. Short and valuable.

[Sincerely, Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

i like this book

[Vortran Calimlim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Key takeaways are:
1. Life is unfair, don't work harder, work smarter
2. Know, develop and leverage on your unfair advantages (MILES)
3. Have the 'Reality-Growth Mindset'

[Fernando Izquierdo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Unfair Advantage is a book that has put into words something that I've been thinking since I started reading the stories of many entrepreneurs: All of them had unfair advantages that made them successful and that some self help gurus are reluctant to admit, in order to give the impression that all of their achievements are on their own merit.
The MILES Framework is a captivating idea that outlines the different advantages that several entrepreneurs had previously and during the development of their startups. The MILES acronym stands for: Money, Intelligence and Insight, Location and Luck, Education and Expertise and finally Status. For me, this is the critical concept of the entire book.
Another characteristic that is worth to mention is the presence of personal stories from many entrepreneurs that are key to highlight the diverse unfair advantages that they enjoy.
If I had to mention something not so positive about the book it would be the last part "The Startup Quick-Start Guide". Although I found some useful tips, I think that it feels like an annex and the true value of the book it is in the part one and two

[Sulaiman Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lessons learnt from "The Unfair Advantage" ; A full review.
Back story:

The first time I heard about the unfair advantage book was on LinkedIn by the co-author Hassan Kubba. I immediately purchased it and sent it to my friend's address in the Uk in the hope she can bring it with her in the upcoming weeks when "the lockdown ends". But unfortunately, the pandemic was at the very first beginning, and I lost hope of getting the physical copy. So I bought the e-book and I read it twice! I open it often via the kindle app on my phone at least two to three times per week. not for the content only but the ideas, wisdom, practicality, and guidance found through the page. This book is truly a practical book to start a business and I do consider it the bible of business.

A practical business book:

"Success in the startup world is not simply awarded to the hardest workers. It is awarded to those who develop and use their Unfair Advantages."

At the very first beginning of the book. the authors hit you hard (in a good way) - Hey! It's not about working hard! it's about working on your unfair advantages and understand/develop/use them!

Coming from "work hard/Hustle" methods and practices, the idea of "It's not about working hard only" shocked me for real. I even stopped reading the book for a while and started questioning some of the practices I believed in and considered it as a non-touchable not-changeable thing. But that period of questioning made me think about my unfair advantages, to understand how to develop, discover, use those unfair advantages. I had to start reading the book again, from the beginning.

Over the next pages, the authors explain, and answers some of the questions I had at the beginning.. why really hard work doesn't necessarily mean success?

"This oversimplification of hard work = success is not only misleading, it can be downright confusing when you don’t know what to work hard on. Remember what Evan Spiegel said: ‘It’s not about working harder. It’s about working the system.’".

Ultimately, throughout the chapters, this book truly rewires your brain, gives you different practices, different from the ones we know or the ones we developed. and that's why I consider it as a practical business book as it analyzes some of the top tech and non-tech business and analyzes their founders, CEO's and find the common in their story, background, and unfair advantages.. and the only thing left is you projecting their experiences and skills into yours' and develop upon them.

Lessons learnt [highlights]:

- "We don’t all have the same opportunities. We don’t all get what’s coming to us. That’s why we have to make sure we are compassionate to others and ourselves if life doesn’t always turn out quite as well"

- "Life isn’t fair. But if you use the unfairness of life as an excuse to have a victim mindset, to stop yourself from striving to achieve your goals, to make your dreams a reality, then you’re only shooting yourself in the foot."

- "Hard work, grit and perseverance are required, that’s a given. However, success also comes from identifying and then leveraging elements which are outside of your immediate, direct control. We call these elements Unfair Advantages."

- "An Unfair Advantage is a condition, asset or circumstance that puts you in a favourable business position."

- "Your Unfair Advantages can’t easily be copied or bought. Your set of Unfair Advantages is unique to you."

- "For any early-stage startup, the Unfair Advantage of that startup is the sum of the individual Unfair Advantages of the founders."

- "Always partner up with somebody with unfair advantages that balance out yours."

- "An unfair advantage is similar to what Warren Buffett calls an ‘economic moat’. As one of the world’s richest men and most successful investors of all time, he is often asked how he has such a knack for picking the winning stocks to invest in. His answer? He only invests in businesses with a strong, sustainable competitive advantage, and that competitive advantage can be thought of as a moat around the business, defending it from competitors."

- "You have to learn, pivot and see what gets traction. Traction is growth, and fast growth is the name of the game."

- "Unfair advantages are privileges, or they are built on a foundation of privileges. For example, being born in a wealthy developed country is an unfair advantage, but so is having a particular expertise."

- "work to develop unfair advantages for yourself, based on what you have to start with – you can get an education, develop expertise, move cities or even countries, make friends, expand your networks and, most importantly, change your mindset. These are unfair advantages that you can develop proactively."

- "Before we get on to the pillars of the MILES Framework, it is critical to address the foundation. Without this foundation, you could stack every unfair advantage in the world and still find yourself unhappy and unsuccessful. That foundation is your Mindset."

- "You can change your mindset in an instant, simply by looking at your circumstances and your life situation through a different lens. For example, one amazing ‘mindset hack’ is gratitude. Focusing on what you’re grateful for in life can make you feel happier, less stressed and more focused, all without having to change your external circumstances at all."

- "You can change your mindset in an instant, simply by looking at your circumstances and your life situation through a different lens. For example, one amazing ‘mindset hack’ is gratitude. Focusing on what you’re grateful for in life can make you feel happier, less stressed and more focused, all without having to change your external circumstances at all."

- "According to Dr Carol Dweck, professor of psychology at Stanford University, people with a fixed mindset believe they are born naturally gifted at doing some things, but incapable of others. This black-and-white way of thinking often obstructs their development. Failure is a disaster to a person with fixed mindset. When it happens, they will bury their heads in the sand or blame others."

- "We make the most misleading assumptions by looking at outliers, and believing that the only reason we haven’t achieved the same is because we simply weren’t driven, self-disciplined and hardworking enough."

- "Reality-growth mindset is about having your feet rooted on the ground, with your head in the clouds. Not just your head in the clouds believing anything is possible! And not just your feet on the ground thinking, ‘I can never be above average and ordinary.’ You need both!"

- "This precise duality of thinking is necessary. Lean too far towards the unfairness of life, and you become a victim. Lean too far into the ‘fully-in-control master and architect of your future’ side, and you become disillusioned when your millionaire status doesn’t appear after a couple of years of hustle."

- "Reality-growth mindset is the fertile soil from which your unfair advantages spring."

- "People will follow a leader with vision, even if that vision turns out, in the end, to be a poor one. The person with vision serves as a prophet, voicing the unknown and bringing it into reality. If you are not able to imagine the future with your organisation, there is really little reason to continue moving forward. One setback, and you’re done."

- "Serendipity matters. Location and Luck means being in the right place at the right time."

- "Location affects the vibe that you’re infected with. It’s said that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with, so being surrounded by innovative and entrepreneurial people, who are ambitious and hardworking, is likely to have a positive effect on your own ambitions, attitudes and productivity."

- "One of the biggest ‘hacks’ or shortcuts to personal growth and development is via those we spend our time with."

- "When luck strikes too soon in a business, such as with very early success, you might never develop the thick skin required to take rejection, or the humility to take feedback."

- "Expertise often means being very good at something quite specific (no one is an ‘expert in general’) and so that means following your own interests. Formal education and academic institutions are often designed to give you a solid grounding in many different subjects, and won’t necessarily help you build your expertise in just one."

- "Once you’re confident in one element, push yourself further, take it to the next level. Another way to solidify expertise is to teach what you know, whether face to face or by writing up an article or recording a teaching video. It helps you learn it twice."

- "don’t be afraid to be multidisciplinary."

- "If you pin your self-love and happiness to something external, you’ll either keep moving the finish line and never be happy, or you’ll experience the most profound anticlimax in your life and get depressed when you realise that achieving your external goal does not fill the inner void."
- "Love yourself and accept yourself, wherever you’re at as a starting point, then self-improve from there."

- "Don’t compare your behind-the-scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel."

- "Make your criteria for success process-based rather than outcome-based."

- "You can’t control the outcome, because luck always plays a role, but you can control your own actions and processes to do the right thing in alignment with your values and goals."

- "Beware of confusing society’s symbols of success (fast cars, private jets, designer clothes, fancy restaurants, exotic holidays) and actual success (happiness, fulfilment, self-actualisation, growth, learning, adding value to others, having positive impact, having the freedom to spend quality time with the people you love)."

- "You get a great idea by having both a key insight into a problem, and then coming up with a great solution to that problem. This solution is your product."

- "Great ideas come when you put a twist on existing things, consider a problem from another point of view, or take a solution from one industry and apply it to another, or from one geographic region to another."

- "There are two ingredients needed to develop your network:

1. An authentic desire to add value to people you meet

2. Increasing your Status so that people perceive more value from you"

- "Having 5,000 LinkedIn contacts isn’t worth much if none of them reply to a message from you. That’s why it’s always helpful, at least at first, to be introduced by someone – someone who can endorse you, who can vouch for your talent or even just knows your name."

- "Cold contact (without a warm introduction) is the least powerful way of growing your network, but can still work if what you are offering is interesting enough to your listener."

- "‘Growth hacking’ is a term coined by Sean Ellis in 2010 to distinguish it from digital marketing. It refers to a set of both traditional and unconventional marketing and product development experiments that lead to growth."

- "Growth hacking is the intersection between creativity, marketing and tech."

- "The true growth hacker has a growth mindset. They are not attached to any particular marketing or distribution channel. They are not in love with what worked in the past. They are looking at the world as it is, assessing options, testing often, and then making a move on what works best."

- "remember that you’re not starting a company to raise money, you’re doing it to serve customers, clients or users, and make a profit, and ideally have some kind of positive impact in the world. Always keep that in mind."

[Maliha · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an avid reader, I’ve come across countless self-help and business books, but “The Unfair Advantage” stands out for its refreshing perspective. Ash Ali, along with co-author Hasan Kubba, delves into the concept of unfair advantages—those unique elements that give us an edge over our competition.

What I Loved:

Practical Insights: Ali draws from his extensive experience, including being the first Marketing Director of Just Eat, to provide practical insights. He emphasizes that hard work and grit alone aren’t enough; understanding your unfair advantages is crucial.

Holistic Approach: The book goes beyond the usual suspects (like intelligence or money) and explores various dimensions: location, education, expertise, status, and even luck. It’s a holistic view that resonates with real-world scenarios.

Self-Reflection: Ali encourages readers to look inward and identify their unique strengths. By doing so, you’ll uncover hidden talents and resources you didn’t realize you possessed.

Readable and Concise: The writing style is clear, concise, and engaging. You won’t find yourself drowning in jargon or unnecessary fluff.

Room for Improvement:

More Case Studies: While the book provides examples, I would have loved to see more detailed case studies illustrating how individuals leveraged their unfair advantages successfully.

Dive Deeper: Some sections could benefit from deeper exploration. For instance, the chapter on luck left me wanting more.
Final Thoughts:

“The Unfair Advantage” is a thought-provoking read that challenges conventional wisdom. It’s not just for entrepreneurs; anyone seeking personal growth and success can benefit from understanding their unique advantages. So, whether you’re launching a startup or navigating your career, grab a copy and discover your hidden edge.

Overall, this book is a valuable addition to anyone’s personal development library.

[Juan Arcila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent tool, for everyone looking to get an insight into a realistic view of success, in the words of a couple of entrepreneurs that came from nothing to build huge start-ups, by having the right mindset and recognition of their own unfair advantages. The results after years of picking what makes a particular start up successful, is well described in their MILES framework. In addition, you will find many real life examples to point out the struggles and they way others have capitalized on their unfair advantages to become unicorns, from Facebook and Google to Spanx, they all have a story to illustrate it's not all hard work or serendipity, but actually the unfair balance between the two.

[Nove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book with a lot of useful information about the startup world.
It starts off with the idea of how life isn't fair, a lot of multimillionaires we see have been blessed with their parents money, connections, privilege, and in general a lot of unfair advantages that common people generally do not have. It is very realistic and does not offer false promises as other startup/motivational/self help books offer, just tells you what goes on into creating startups, helps you analyze your own advantages and gives very valuable advises on how to get started with a lot of stuff.
The authors have told their own story of each of their success, how they had built their own unfair advantages even though they were from families of immigrant, and does not come from rich families, they also gave examples of a lot of successful people and what factors played important roles in their success.
Overall, a great read would recommend to people who plan on creating their own startups and businesses.

[Tony Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really refreshing book because it talks about success not in a rah rah any one can do it approach, but rather is about how we should use our unique circumstances and talents. Also part 3 about how to start a startup is fantastic. Really recommend it and have already bought copies for my team!

[TRB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Insightful and practical.

PS: Love the humble beginnings, would love to follow the same path as theirs but then again I have different sets of unfair advantages compared to them and so I cant do what they did 😩

[Aleksander Prifti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a thought-provoking and insightful book that delves deep into the world of entrepreneurship and innovation. Ali, drawing from his extensive experience as a successful entrepreneur and advisor to numerous startups, provides readers with a roadmap to discover their unique advantages in the business world. He emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and harnessing one's strengths to gain a competitive edge. The book is filled with practical strategies, real-life examples, and actionable advice that can be applied by both budding entrepreneurs and seasoned business professionals. With a focus on identifying and leveraging your personal "unfair advantage," Ash Ali's book serves as a valuable resource for anyone looking to excel in the competitive landscape of entrepreneurship.

Moreover, "The Unfair Advantage" is not just a guide for achieving business success; it also explores the broader themes of resilience, determination, and the importance of continuous learning. Ali's engaging writing style and relatable anecdotes make this book an enjoyable and enlightening read. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur seeking inspiration or a seasoned business leader looking to refine your approach, this book offers valuable insights that can help you navigate the complexities of the modern business world and unlock your true potential.

[Robin Waite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute game changing book, written about business but I feel that many of the messages in the book can be applied to life in general.

When everyone seems to be making a massive success of their lives the authors question how they’re identifying that sucks, and instead of saying everyone else is super lucky for having an unfair advantage they demonstrate how you can create an unfair advantage for yourself.

Great examples of a real case studies of unfair advantages that entrepreneurs have benefited from and how actually the case studies they mention put the work in where it was needed as well, it’s incredibly down to Earth and easy to ready.

A great book.

[Toadere Andreas-Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors of this book focus on an important message for people who are thinking of starting a company, which consists in few simple and crucial ideas:
- do not focus on outliers (companies with huges success, but which needed a plethora of advantageous factors in order to reach that)
- achieving success usually requires both hard work and luck
- luck can be earned and evaluated by using the MILES framework created by the authors
- everybody has an unfair advantage with respect to others

All in all, I like the realistic viewpoint on which the book was built, I would say that this is a good book to serve as a guide for entrepreneurs.

[Andre Borges · Rating 5 out of 5]

The MILES framework by itself is enough to justify the 5*. It will be a tool for value and progress assessment I’ll take on with me for several life’s buckets.
The message that life is unfair as a base, turned into the tools to think about how to take your disadvantages and turn them downside up is a gem. while doing that you’ll end up discovering where are you privileged and how to take advantage of it. Loved the stories

[Italo De Nubila · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly it’s a ton a bull crap. Sure everyone got unfair advantages, but I feel like it really depends on how you look at it. It basically is luck. Luck in where you were born, how you were raised. So basically all it says is: If you DO have an advantage, make use of it... Does this concept trully needs a book to explain it??? Just Read this review... it will save you a couple of hours of your life. If I could zero star it, I would...

[Ken Diep · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ideas don't offer any significant insight. The structure and writing is solid, but feels unrefined, especially in the anecdotes. I didn't get much out of this apart from the positive messaging, which can be boiled down to 'count your blessings'.

Solid but unspectacular.

[Mahfuz · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books to audit yourself, to find out on how to use your unfair advantage. The best book out there and learnt so much from this. No wonder it’s the best selling book on Amazon.

[Héctor Mateu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting concepts and ideas as well as extremely insightful information and advice. Quick read and valuable knowledge.

[Vlad-Marius Griguta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book starts with the observation that both envying successful people for the priviledges they started with and believing that everything can be achieve by mere hard work and dedication are counter-productive mindsets. The rational approach proposed by the authors is to start with the assumption that we all have our specific unfair advantages that we can leverage in order to become successful, especially when our success metric is "inner fulfilment, not just quantifiable financial success (which will never be 100 per cent in your control)".
The book identifies 5 categories of unfair advantages, all interlinked and all dependent on the foundation of success - our mindset. These are defined in the MILES framework, which stands for Money, Insight / Intelligence, Location / Luck, Education / Expertise and Status. The idea is that we do not need to ace every aspect on the list, but to understand where we have our strongest advantages and to promote ourselves on those pillars or, alternatively, to look to complement our advantages with those of the people we partner with. For example, domain expertise complements fund-raising abilities, which together can form the basis of a start-up with two exceptional unfair advantages - money and expertise. Similarly, living in a tech-hub city brings a different set of advantages that can help differetiate a business or a personal brand from the competition.
The book ends with some practical advice on getting a business off the ground. Depending on how aggressive the goal of the business is, there are two types of start-ups - lifestyle and high-growth. The former focusses more on getting recurrent, hands-off profit, whereas the later focusses to getting traction and growth at the expense of profit, which is generally subsidized by external investments. While the reason that the authors reached the status and expertise to write this book is because one of them worked in a high-growth start-up, the book itself does not encourage taking high risks and critically examines the benefits and drawbacks of both styles of businesses, giving relevant examples.
All in all this was a great motivational read that was also quite informative, which is reflected in my 4 star rating. Enjoy!

[Zahra Shakarchi]

This book was a great way to get back to reading after a long time! It simply shows how the world really operates especially when we get caught up on what success really is and is a reminder that life is unfair and it’s okay! I loved how it gives examples on how different people of completely different lives, skills, characters, opportunities, and share of luck became successful through their unfair advantages beside hard work. I know for a fact that many people in their teen years and early twenties put so much pressure on themselves and feel bad when they their peers and people who are younger achieve so much success during the time when they don’t know what they want and what makes everything worst is the culture of hard work and “following you passion!!” even during those days when getting up in the morning feels like the most dreadful thing to do. I think it’s better to have more of a realistic look to the world by reading books like this one than to be fooled by social media and the idea that only hard work pays off. Being a hard worker is an important personality trait to have but it’s good to also look at things from the perspective of unfair advantages and realize your own. It reminds me of the blue and red oceans strategies that companies implement for marketing and success where blue oceans are companies that are not comparable through doing work that’s unique to their own unlike red oceans where there is competition with businesses of work that’s similar to theirs. Despite the fact that these strategies are implemented by companies, I feel like people’s lives and the work that is produced by humans are very similar to them.

[Mico Go · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid startup primer. Lots of tidbits for self-auditing as well - insights that help us polish up, and utilize our own unfair advantages.

“..hard work also plays a very important role, because it’s true that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. But combine the two and that’s when you get rocket fuel”.

Recommend this for my startup boys! @john @javi good stuff

[Shubon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book!!! Finally something that gave me the knowledge I need to start my business!