Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future
- Downloads：2311
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-26 06:54:10
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Peter Thiel
- ISBN：0753555190
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
Peter Thiel is the co-founder of PayPal and the first outside investor in Facebook。 In the Spring of 2012， he gave a lecture course at Stanford for software engineers， calling on them to think boldly and broadly about how they might use their skills to shape the future， and imparting the lessons he has gleaned from his own experience。 One of the students in that class - Blake Masters - took notes and posted them online。 The blog posts became a huge success， with hundreds of thousands of hits， and became the basis for Zero to One。
We live in an age of technological stagnation， even if we're too distracted by our new mobile devices to notice。 Progress has stalled in every industry except computers， and globalization is hardly the revolution people think it is。 It's true that the world can get marginally richer by building new copies of old inventions， making horizontal progress from '1 to n'。 But true innovators have nothing to copy。 The most valuable companies of the future will make vertical progress from '0 to 1'， creating entirely new industries and products that have never existed before。 Zero to One is about how to build these companies。
A business book that also provides insight into the world of start-ups from a Silicon Valley icon， Thiel shows how to pursue your goals using the most important， most difficult， and most underrated skill in every job or industry: thinking for yourself。
We live in an age of technological stagnation， even if we're too distracted by our new mobile devices to notice。 Progress has stalled in every industry except computers， and globalization is hardly the revolution people think it is。 It's true that the world can get marginally richer by building new copies of old inventions， making horizontal progress from '1 to n'。 But true innovators have nothing to copy。 The most valuable companies of the future will make vertical progress from '0 to 1'， creating entirely new industries and products that have never existed before。 Zero to One is about how to build these companies。
A business book that also provides insight into the world of start-ups from a Silicon Valley icon， Thiel shows how to pursue your goals using the most important， most difficult， and most underrated skill in every job or industry: thinking for yourself。
Reviews
Juani Carrancedo
，
La biblia de las startups， gran lectura
John Battipaglia
，
Puzzled by the positive reviews。 This book did nothing for me。 Uninspiring and bland。
Brook Wiers
，
One of the few books that says anything。
Alakh Naresh Gargiya
，
Excellent！ Going to read this one again and again…
Andro Sabillo
，
This book can inspire people to advance the technology of humanity。 Its thesis mainly distinguishes the difference between technology and innovation， and continues the narrative by arguing how monopoly is much more productive than competition。 The book is easy to read or understand， and I think this is the first book I properly read。
Peter Morgan
，
Unfortunately one of the most important books of its decade
Saurabh Modi
，
This had a lot of good points in the first half， sadly the second half was a bit too much for me。 I still think it’s a good read。 The things I liked - - a lot of points that intuitively make sense to me but I’ve never thought about them （start from a small market， expand to adjacent markets philosophy， etc）- the psychological setup to have if you’re to start something new （e。g。 while the world attributes a lot to luck， when you start something don’t depend on it as a crutch， instead make bold pl This had a lot of good points in the first half， sadly the second half was a bit too much for me。 I still think it’s a good read。 The things I liked - - a lot of points that intuitively make sense to me but I’ve never thought about them （start from a small market， expand to adjacent markets philosophy， etc）- the psychological setup to have if you’re to start something new （e。g。 while the world attributes a lot to luck， when you start something don’t depend on it as a crutch， instead make bold plans and be cautious of pursuing triviality， etc）- first hand view of frameworks of thinking for science and technology in general Things that I didn’t like -- too much contrarianism throughout the book。 I don’t disagree with the parts that made sense to me， but the contrarianism sometimes got tiring and without substance - some straight up misleading stuff （the whole case study of Tesla implies Elon Musk as the founder and that’s just not correct， additionally， the whole case study of Tesla seems bias - I’m not saying it’s not successful， just that it seemed that Thiel overfit some of his theories here）- some things that bothered me - not funding folks who dressed up for the meetings instead of wearing tshirts， the whole personality frequency distribution curve。 My problem is while there might be correlation there， the implied causation is definitely misleading to the readers。 - some parts sound intuitively correct to me。 But a lot has to be taken at face value without any proofs （and as a sceptic that’s usually where I draw the line; a successful personality doesn’t always a correct argument make）All said and done， still a good book to read to get yourselves thinking about things， but I wouldn’t take anything on face value。 。。。more
Adrián Jurado
，
Aporta ideas disruptivas sobre los monopolios， la competencia y los primeros pasos de una startup pero apenas indica las oportunidades de negocio que cree que surgirán en el futuro ni da consejos para mejorar la creatividad。
Annie
，
I think the book is highly overestimated。 It's a startup book， but I didn't feel like that。 The early chapters were actually enjoyable， but unfortunately some of the examples from this book were not relevant to the subject。 Moreover， I think the book is incomplete， most are generally ideas and those ideas are not new。 It should be described in greater depth。 I think the book is highly overestimated。 It's a startup book， but I didn't feel like that。 The early chapters were actually enjoyable， but unfortunately some of the examples from this book were not relevant to the subject。 Moreover， I think the book is incomplete， most are generally ideas and those ideas are not new。 It should be described in greater depth。 。。。more
Bach Tran Quang
，
Những cách suy nghĩ và góc nhìn rất khác về việc xây dựng một doanh nghiệp， một start up。 Mình mới đầu tưởng nó khô khan lắm， nhưng đến khi đọc hết rồi thì mới hiểu tại sao Peter Thiel lại được người ta ca ngợi đến vậy ở thung lũng silicon。
Tere Gonzalez
，
Great book with all the basics and good advices on were to focus as an entrepreneur， light reading and informative about actual big tech companies and its successes to become the examples of how to do it right。
Janet Fort
，
The best hack service for hacking school records， school grades， hacking of school servers， Removing parental or guardian details， processing of original academic document。Also offer the best services so far including Altering of permits and licenses， fixing of driving licenses， job practicing license。 Providing solutions on professional exams and web solutions。 Etc Hacking of emails， they also help to recover emails with logging issues， database hack and Facebook account hack， WhatsApp and othe The best hack service for hacking school records， school grades， hacking of school servers， Removing parental or guardian details， processing of original academic document。Also offer the best services so far including Altering of permits and licenses， fixing of driving licenses， job practicing license。 Providing solutions on professional exams and web solutions。 Etc Hacking of emails， they also help to recover emails with logging issues， database hack and Facebook account hack， WhatsApp and other social media platform hack。Retrieving data and recovery of messages on mobile devices。 trifixblackhat1 @gmail。comMoney transfer and credit card hack Monitoring your parents phone， removal of criminal records。。。。。。。。。。Reach our to trifix for solutions this are top secret works that will work out for you with less stress 。。。more
Haur Bin Chua
，
The fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows one big thing。 This is a book about the hedgehogs and how to build the one big thing from a startup into a monopoly。 The central thesis of this book is that perfect competition means equilibrium means stasis and death whereas monopoly is the way for a sustainable business。 To build a monopoly， it starts with developing a proprietary technology （easy right？） and using the technology to monopolise a small segment of the market。 Then， scale the busin The fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows one big thing。 This is a book about the hedgehogs and how to build the one big thing from a startup into a monopoly。 The central thesis of this book is that perfect competition means equilibrium means stasis and death whereas monopoly is the way for a sustainable business。 To build a monopoly， it starts with developing a proprietary technology （easy right？） and using the technology to monopolise a small segment of the market。 Then， scale the business using network effect and smart branding。 At that point， leverage on the economy of scale to expand the monopoly。 The book also talks about how successful startups typically have an obsessive founder who can build a cult-like culture in the workforce and a strong foundation with clear ownership/control/possession structure among stakeholders。What frustrates me on this book is the incoherent way it is put together。 Also， what happens when the company reaches the apex？ For companies like Apple and Google who have been transformed from zero to one， does that mean an inevitable slide to obsolescence？ That’s probably where point where the hedgehog backs off and the fox takes over to maintain the company’s position。 。。。more
Age Reijnders
，
Valuable insights for anyone in innovation， a （tech-）entrepreneur or in general about why some companies succeed in unprecedented ways。
Sam Bayat
，
I really enjoyed reading Peter’s book。 Fresh tone to it compare to other business books and covered many great ideas and questions of our time， with his smart observations。
Thomas
，
I must admit that， a few cheap shots and rash dismissals aside， Peter Thiel’s analysis uniquely synthesizes the Nietzschean with cold reasoning。 There’s a reason David Graeber felt the need to wrestle with Thiel’s ideas， particularly surrounding how socioeconomic conditions interact with technological progress。 His view of our climate challenges and the developing world are clear-eyed and offer a strong counterpoint to many degrowth arguments （particularly， the ones that view degrowth as possibl I must admit that， a few cheap shots and rash dismissals aside， Peter Thiel’s analysis uniquely synthesizes the Nietzschean with cold reasoning。 There’s a reason David Graeber felt the need to wrestle with Thiel’s ideas， particularly surrounding how socioeconomic conditions interact with technological progress。 His view of our climate challenges and the developing world are clear-eyed and offer a strong counterpoint to many degrowth arguments （particularly， the ones that view degrowth as possible without accompanying technological advances [i。e。 replacing automobiles with e-bikes]）。 I actually don’t even think his theories have to be right wing， and that they could at least partially integrate with an egalitarian framework。 It’s honestly too bad Thiel revealed a stunning hypocrisy surrounding free speech with the Gawker lawsuit， because he’s probably the right’s only theorist heading anywhere new and would enrich the marketplace of ideas。 。。。more
Tadija Malić
，
A book to study。 Peter is on another level of analytical thinking and has some very interesting analysis of the past events in the CS industry。 The book contains a lot of questions so be prepared to think and analyse。If you're starting a company and like this book， make sure to check out Peter's Stanford lecture on startups and Blake Master's notes of it。 A book to study。 Peter is on another level of analytical thinking and has some very interesting analysis of the past events in the CS industry。 The book contains a lot of questions so be prepared to think and analyse。If you're starting a company and like this book， make sure to check out Peter's Stanford lecture on startups and Blake Master's notes of it。 。。。more
Kuan
，
fresh ideas on start ups for me
Cristian Parra
，
Libro obligado para los fundadores de startup。 Cuenta cosas importantes， útiles y necesarias del camino del emprendimiento， pero le hace falta chispa。
Hana Al Maktoum
，
A very good book if you’re interested in reading about the business philosophies of impactful startups。
Peter
，
Et lille 4-tal。 Men jeg synes faktisk bogen rimelig kort og præcist kommer med nogle rigtig gode pointer omkring hvordan man starter en virksomhef， og hvilke faktorer man skal være opmærksom på hvis man skal have en chance for at skabe en sucess。 Altså hvordan man skaber den næste Tesla eller Facebook。
Bill Whyte
，
I can't say anything that hasn't already been said on this book。 I would just add that I would like to take the principles and apply them to an existing business and see if it is possible to take that from zero to one。。。。。。 I can't say anything that hasn't already been said on this book。 I would just add that I would like to take the principles and apply them to an existing business and see if it is possible to take that from zero to one。。。。。。 。。。more
Tinku
，
Good thoughts
Siddant Sahu
，
When I picked this book I thought this book will give me insight about how to become entrepreneur or how startup works。 But this book is more about the author's own philosophy。 There were some data numbers related to company's valuation and all。 I expected more from this book given its popularity。 When I picked this book I thought this book will give me insight about how to become entrepreneur or how startup works。 But this book is more about the author's own philosophy。 There were some data numbers related to company's valuation and all。 I expected more from this book given its popularity。 。。。more
Gunjan
，
If you are looking forward to opening a startup or get some tips to run a business in the initial stages， then you can pick up this book。 As for me， I didn't find it an extraordinary read。 Even if you skip this book， you won't miss anything substantial。 It does add value to your learning， depending on how much you already know。 If you are looking forward to opening a startup or get some tips to run a business in the initial stages， then you can pick up this book。 As for me， I didn't find it an extraordinary read。 Even if you skip this book， you won't miss anything substantial。 It does add value to your learning， depending on how much you already know。 。。。more
Jackson Burton
，
For someone newer to the startup space， I thought this was a great read。 I'm not saying I agree with 100% of everything that Peter Thiel claimed， but I really enjoyed the ideas and thoughts that he brought to the table。 Additionally， I enjoyed the concrete examples that he provided rather than merely just anecdotal thoughts or opinions。 Some of my favorite quotes:IDEA GENERATION - “The best projects are likely to be overlooked， not trumpeted by a crowd; the best problems to work on are often the For someone newer to the startup space， I thought this was a great read。 I'm not saying I agree with 100% of everything that Peter Thiel claimed， but I really enjoyed the ideas and thoughts that he brought to the table。 Additionally， I enjoyed the concrete examples that he provided rather than merely just anecdotal thoughts or opinions。 Some of my favorite quotes:IDEA GENERATION - “The best projects are likely to be overlooked， not trumpeted by a crowd; the best problems to work on are often the ones nobody else even tries to solve。”OPTIMISM ABOUT AI （hard to find these days， though understandable）- “The most valuable businesses of coming decades will be built by entrepreneurs who seek to empower people rather than try to make them obsolete。”ORGANIZATIONS - “In the most dysfunctional organizations， signaling that work is being done becomes a better strategy for career advancement than actually doing work （if this describes your company， you should quit now）。”WORKING HARD， BUT ALSO SMART - “You should focus relentlessly on something you’re good at doing， but before that you must think hard about whether it will be valuable in the future。” 。。。more
Yuxi
，
Piercing insights from a top-notch capitalist indoctrinated in the ultimate good of （technological） progress to humanity。 I learned stuffs。 3/5 is honestly a bit unfair， but goodreads offers no 3。5/5 option so here we go。
Rahul Dharan
，
Very interesting take by Peter Thiel， "evade competition"。 Very interesting take by Peter Thiel， "evade competition"。 。。。more
Jared
，
I regularly see this book recommended as one of the best books on startups so I finally picked it up and was not disappointed。 The biggest takeaway is in the title: going from "zero to one"， i。e。 making something entirely new from nothing， is what successful startups should strive for。 We also get some insight into Thiel's framework for evaluating startups: what he looks for in the founders， product， market， etc。 Thiel's background as a successful founder and venture capitalist give a lot more w I regularly see this book recommended as one of the best books on startups so I finally picked it up and was not disappointed。 The biggest takeaway is in the title: going from "zero to one"， i。e。 making something entirely new from nothing， is what successful startups should strive for。 We also get some insight into Thiel's framework for evaluating startups: what he looks for in the founders， product， market， etc。 Thiel's background as a successful founder and venture capitalist give a lot more weight to these ideas。 The key points of the book are distilled and presented in a concise and digestible way。 It's not a long or difficult read and some of the ideas may already be apparent to those with a business background， but I found it well worth the time。 。。。more
KFK
，