Zero to One : Notes on STARTUPS

Peter Andreas Thiel ( October 11, 1967) is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is a co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies and Founders Fund.He was ranked No. 4 on the Forbes Midas List of 2014, with a net worth of $2.2 billion, and No. 328 on the Forbes 400 in 2018, with a net worth of $2.5 billion.

Every major moment in business happens one time only.The next Zuckerberg won’t build a social network and the next Larry Page won’t build a search engine. Your best bet then is to learn the mindset of going from zero to one.

In Zero to One, Peter Thiel draws on his experience at PayPal and Palantir to offer ideas and suggestions for technology startups. Unlocking the power of innovation is the primary goal. In order to reach this goal, the entrepreneur will need to question conventional wisdom, embrace monopoly and capture value for their new enterprise.

The core lesson is that the best and most disruptive companies go “from zero to one,” from non-existence to existence, from no solution to solution, from nothing expected to something expected. Most companies, though, go from 1 to 1.1, or 1.1 to 1.11, they don’t make a huge disruptive change. To have a lasting impact, you must find a zero and create a new paradigm.

The clearest way to make a 10x improvement is to invent something completely new. If you build something valuable where there was nothing before, the increase in value is theoretically infinite. A drug to safely eliminate the need for sleep, or a cure for baldness, for example, would certainly support a monopoly business.