A book report on Peter Thiel's Zero to One - Notes and Speaking Points not included.

1. Reid Evans, Tony Jimenez, Corey O’Neal

2. who is peter thiel?

3. book highlights
1. what makes a good idea
2. monopolies rock
3. how to build your team

4. the contrarian
what important truth do very few people
agree with you on?
photo: fortune magazine

5. the contrarian
“In a world of scarce resources, globalization
without new technology is unsustainable.”
photo: fortune magazine

6. silicon valley vs. thiel
Silicon Valley mentality
1. Make Incremental Advances
2. Stay Lean & Flexible
3. Improve on the Competition
4. Focus on product, not sales
Financial
Times
Apartmentlist

7. silicon valley vs. thiel
Silicon Valley mentality
1. Make Incremental Advances
2. Stay Lean & Flexible
3. Improve on the Competition
4. Focus on product, not sales
Peter Thiel mentality Financial
1. Better to risk boldness than triviality
2. A bad plan is better than no plan
3. Competitive markets destroy profits!
4. Sales matter just as much as product
Times
Apartmentlist

8. what valuable company is
nobody building?
The next Mark Zuckerberg isn’t building another
another social network

9. what is a good idea?
...take something from zero to one.

10. what is a good idea?
...take something from zero to one.
1 to n
0 to 1

11. new products
need to be at least 10x better than previous
manifestations…

12. don’t waste time competing with others.

13. build a monopoly
1. Proprietary technology
2. Network effects
3. Economies of scale
4. Branding

14. must be able to grow and endure.

15. what happened to futurism?

16. to win, have definite optimism.

17. do something impossible.
start small.
dominate.

18. diverse skillset, similar approach

19. diverse skillset, similar approach

20. why work at [your] startup?
You can do irreplaceable work on a
crazy problem with amazing people
that no one else is going to get done.

21. sales is as important as product.
Invented
something new
Don’t know how
to sell it
You have a bad business

22. every business must answer:
1. Is it a breakthrough vs. incremental improvement?
1. Is now the right time to start your particular business?
1. Are you starting with a big share of a small market?
1. Do you have the right team?
1. Do you have a way to deliver your product?

23. discuss.
Photo: The Guardian

24. If you’re interested MORE
Arts & Ideas at the JCCSF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYPj0jLzoQw
Original Notes that Formed the Book
http://blakemasters.com/peter-thiels-cs183-startup
Stanford Y-Combinator Startup Class
Lecture 5: Business Strategy and Monopoly Theory
http://startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec05/
a16z Podcast: The (Definite) Optimism of Peter Thiel
http://a16z.com/2014/10/17/a16z-podcast-the-definite-optimism-of-peter-thiel/