Zero to One, Thiel
Peter Thiel gives his notes on startups and advice for building a business.
I actually saw him give a speech at The Oxford Union which was fun. Interesting book, lots of practical advice.
Highlights
Page: 6 | Date: 09-23-23 “What important truth do very few people agree with you on?”
Page: 24 | Date: 09-23-23 Non-monopolists exaggerate their distinction by defining their market as the intersection of various smaller markets: British food ∩ restaurant ∩ Palo Alto Rap star ∩ hackers ∩ sharks Monopolists, by contrast, disguise their monopoly by framing their market as the union of several large markets:
Page: 28 | Date: 09-25-23 Monopoly is therefore not a pathology or an exception. Monopoly is the condition of every successful business.
Page: 29-undefined | Date: 09-25-23 Elite students climb confidently until they reach a level of competition sufficiently intense to beat their dreams out of them. Higher education is the place where people who had big plans in high school get stuck in fierce rivalries with equally smart peers over conventional careers like management consulting and investment banking.
Page: 32 | Date: 09-25-23 The hazards of imitative competition may partially explain why individuals with an Asperger’s-like social ineptitude seem to be at an advantage in Silicon Valley today. If you’re less sensitive to social cues, you’re less likely to do the same things as everyone else around you. If you’re interested in making things or programming computers, you’ll be less afraid to pursue those activities single-mindedly and thereby become incredibly good at them.
Page: 95 | Date: 09-27-23 The only good answers are specific to your company, so you won’t find them in this book. But there are two general kinds of good answers: answers about your mission and answers about your team.
Page: 94 | Date: 09-27-23 Here are some bad answers: “Your stock options will be worth more here than elsewhere.” “You’ll get to work with the smartest people in the world.” “You can help solve the world’s most challenging problems.” What’s wrong with valuable stock, smart people, or pressing problems?
Page: 96 | Date: 09-27-23 Cryptonomicon was required reading