As Peter Thiel observed, in the "ideal state" of capitalism, profit is impossible. Perfect competition drives profits to zero. All profit in capitalist systems

As Peter Thiel observed, in the "ideal state" of capitalism, profit is impossible. Perfect competition drives profits to zero. All profit in capitalist systems results from various forms of friction - imperfections in "perfect competition". Barriers to entry are an imperfection. We're not in the startup world out of an ideological obsession with the perfectly spherical cows of economic fantasy. We're here to make money (among other things). We are trying to build high-growth sustainable business models. That means high profits, much higher than can be achieved in highly competitive industries. Perhaps we shouldn't be saying "monopoly" so much as high demand, low competition, high barrier to entry.