Primacy of existence
Existence comes first; consciousness perceives it but does not create it.
Rand's starting point in metaphysics: things are what they are regardless of what anyone thinks, wishes or feels about them. Consciousness is the faculty of perceiving what exists. She contrasted this with the "primacy of consciousness", the view that reality depends on a mind.
Read it in Rand’s words
Atlas Shrugged (Galt's speech); Philosophy: Who Needs It