"It is the greatest mathematical discovery of all time." - Albert Einstein on compound interest.

There is a fallacy that startups need to be super-secretive and then, when they launch, move very fast to capture the market. This is rarely true. Most startups would do well to study compound interest rather than market share.

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Compound interest is about gains that are reinvested back into the asset base so that the next gain will be higher. The interest earns interest. The table below shows a new Web business at the very beginning, with only 100 wisdom points (a made-up term). The business is learning at a reasonable rate, with 10% growth in its useful knowledge each month. And, as you can see, its monthly growth in real units is growing; this is the compound interest. You get the idea.

"I've got an idea that no one has ever thought of. I'd better not tell anyone because as soon as I launch it, everyone will copy me. I'll develop it in secret, and then when my vision is ready, I'll launch it with great gusto and have a big sales and marketing