After praising the “design” brilliance of Steve Jobs, Peter Thiel tells this story in his book Zero to One:

When Yahoo! Offered to buy Facebook for $1 billion in July, 2006, I thought we should at least consider it. But Mark Zuckerberg walked into the board meeting and announced: “Okay, guys, this is just a formality, it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. We’re obviously not going to sell here.” Mark saw where he could take the company, and Yahoo! didn’t. A business with a good definite plan will always be underrated in a world where people see the future as random.

“What would it mean to prioritize design over chance?” That is the question that Mr. Thiel asks, and partly answers by his Mark Zuckerberg story.

I am reading Zero to One almost leisurely – by design. I’ll read a chapter, than I’ll think a while, then I’ll read another chapter. It is a book that makes me think. But, I am beginning to grasp that the author would not approve of such a reaction. He would rather see me read the book, and then rather than “think a while,” I should go “design something to do – and then, do it…”

You know– “do something.”