Breaking Precedent

An invaluable guide to recognizing and challenging the invisible rules, assumptions, and systems that no longer serve us so as to make a lasting impact We are living through an era of unprecedented change. Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries, long-standing institutions are being challenged, and the rules that guided previous generations no longer seem sufficient for the future. Yet most people still find themselves constrained by invisible assumptions about who gets to lead, what paths are available, and how change is supposed to happen. In Breaking Precedent, entrepreneur and investor Leah Solivan argues that meaningful progress begins when we learn to identify and challenge the hidden precedents shaping our lives. Drawing on her journey as founder of TaskRabbit, one of the companies that helped create the modern gig economy, Solivan introduces Rebel Logic, a practical framework for recognizing outdated systems, questioning inherited assumptions, and creating change that lasts. Through candid stories from her own career and original conversations with trailblazers across business, law, science, sports, investing, and the arts, readers learn how innovators recognize opportunities others miss, navigate resistance, build coalitions, take strategic risks, and create entirely new possibilities for those who follow. Featuring a foreword by retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the book offers a rare perspective on both sides of the equation: why some precedents are worth preserving and why others must be challenged. It is about knowing what to protect, what to change, and how to move the world forward.