Zero to One – Notes on Startups, or How to Build The Future, by Peter Thiel 

The book is especially relevant for the ambitious entrepreneur who is looking for a significant idea to pursue. The book provides a lot of great points on how to think about entrepreneurial endeavors in a more bold way. Some useful and tangible lessons are offered in the book, which I think is worth to keep in mind for any entrepreneur. I have listed these points in the latter. If you are a banker or a consultant then be prepared to be on the receiving end of a few humorous hard-hitting one-liners.

Zero to One in short:

A provoking and entertaining book that inspires to radical entrepreneurship and change the way outsiders analyze successful companies. It’s at times also a bit random and out of focus which can be frustrating for the pragmatic reader but on the other hand it also makes the book an easier read and more entertaining.

The book is hinged on Peter Thiel’s vision for entrepreneurship. The book advocates that entrepreneurship is the solution to building a better future but at the same time also is the source of a lot of noise that should be disentangled and overlooked. The book provides a window into how Peter decomposes startups to envision their success through 7 criteria. The methodology is partly introduced through historical events as well as on his own experiences as co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, which brings along some very interesting inside anecdotes.

Beyond being entertaining Zero to One also provides a few tools and points that I will argue are incredibly useful for aspiring entrepreneurs to have knowledge of. I have listed these parts of the book in the coming part.

Full review:

As mentioned the baseline of Zero to One is how entrepreneurs needs to think about creating businesses that makes a binary difference in the market instead of building companies based on incremental innovation. Peter Thiel agues it is important both for the sake of the business’ success, but also a necessity for the world in order to help develop a sustainable future. The fundamental question one needs to ask to get started on this quest is: “What valuable company is no one building?” This is a way of thinking that he spends a lot of time introducing he is very opposed to the bandwagon mentality that often is observed in Silicon Valley. He makes a very good case of this with the cleantech boom, which he argues based on his principles, created a lot of fundamentally flawed companies. That section of the book is concluded with an analysis of his previous colleague at PayPal, Elon Musk, success story of Tesla, which conveniently lives up to his principles. 

Zero to One touch on a lot of different topics over the course of the book – some more interesting than others. At times the book is quite philosophical and comes about as a bit random, but usually the anecdote or analogy ends up somewhat contributing to the overall scope of the book: Creating a better future through solid and bold entrepreneurship.   

Thiel’s Golden Nuggets:

Take Control:

You’re not a lottery ticket Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are not by chance as successful as they are, even though that’s their claim. Even Malcolm Gladwell isn’t as successful as he is due to luck, although his book “Outliers” is postulating the opposite. Thiel says you have agency of your life and you have the power to change the world. (Try the GrowthAmbassador's “Omni-Kaizen Program” to assist this endeavor)

Team:

- The most important thing is that the team works well together and beyond that enjoys working together.

- As a new company you can offer equity, which is more valuable than a big salary. Don’t be too stingy with equity in the beginning, and don’t hire people that are not willing to take equity over a big paycheck.  

- The value proposition you offer 20th employee you take onboard is important for your success. Why should that engineer join your company instead of a big established player? The good answer is subjective to each company and should embed the values of the team and the mission of the company.

- Define roles to reduce conflict.

Monopoly:

- Don’t try and disrupt a crowded space. Competition is not a good thing it contrarily means that margins are very low.

- To give the argument for a company’s existence that the market is very large, in effect, often means that margins are low and competition is fierce.

- Start with a big share of a small market – Build monopolies!

Distribution:

- Sales are just as important as the product, don’t underestimate that fact. Superior sales and distribution can create monopoly - This is not the case for a superior product.

- Consider the customer acquisition cost relative to your customer lifetime value and assess the critical mass for breakeven in order to achieve a successful sales and distribution strategy. (There will be a knowledge synthesization on this topic very soon on GrowthAmbassador.com)

- Like acting, sales works better when hidden.

Other topics the book addresses: Durability, technology, timing, VC funds, founders, and optimism.