There are no rules other than the laws of physics

A line from the Elon Musk book:

“The only rules are the ones dictated by the laws of physics. Everything else is a recommendation.”

Probably the most important line in there. Or any entrepreneur biography book for that matter. Or ANY book for that matter.

Because rules are all made up. By someone. By a fallable human being. This isn’t the laws of physics where the speed of light is constant throughout the universe, across all time and space, for eternity. What worked then might no longer work now. The context might have evolved.

Especially in areas like entrepreneurship.

Every ‘rule’ I came across has its counter-example. That’s not a bug, it’s a feature. It’s the nature of how entrepreneurship—or reality—works:

• You see success stories of those who focused on 1 thing. You also see the same for those who diversified.
• You see those who built in stealth and won. You also see those who market like hell and succeeded.
• VC-funded startups can win big. So did bootstrapped ones.

Show me a rule, and I’ll show you how someone won by doing the opposite.

I love this meta-rule because it helps with discernment. There’s so much noise and bullshit online. Knowing this helps me tell the grifters from the legit, and to have “strong opinions, loosely held”.

There are no f**king rules.