What separates success from failure? These 11 laws contain some of the most influential ideas that the biggest tech companies use to run their operations, design business models, and build products.
Since the early days of computers, the rises and falls of tech companies have inspired countless theories about what drives success — and predicts failure — in the fast-moving world of startups. While many such theories fall flat, a few have become well-regarded descriptions of how the tech business works.
Some, like Moore’s Law, have been extremely prescient. Others, like Conway’s Law, provide counterintuitive insights — such as why Microsoft sells Xbox consoles at a loss, or how Facebook became one of the most valuable companies in the world by offering a free service.
Download our comprehensive 67-page report for deep dives on 11 of the most famous tech laws, with examples from tech leaders like Amazon, Apple, IBM, and Salesforce.
Table of contents
- Moore’s Law: The self-fulfilling prophecy that ushered in the digital age (with examples from Intel, Nvidia)
- Metcalfe’s Law: Why big networks produce colossal winners (Facebook, WordPress)
- Law of Mobility: The value of making products available anywhere, any time (Netflix, Monzo)
- Gall’s Law: Why the best products are built from simple systems (Twitter, AWS)
- Law of Modularity: Why building blocks are essential to modern tech design (Salesforce, eBay)
- The 2-Pizza Rule: Why small teams lead to big success (Amazon)
- Conway’s Law: Why corporate structure is vital to product development (Apple, GitHub)
- Yule’s Law of Complementarity: When a loss-making product is good for business (Microsoft, Sony)
- The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs: Why innovative marketing is better than expensive marketing (Glossier, Axios)
- Zimmermann’s Law: How free products can build rich businesses (Facebook, Amazon)
- Pareto Principle: Why startups can raise capital even though most will eventually fail (Union Square Ventures, Sequoia Capital)
