Zero to one : Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Peter Thiel , Blake Masters

Book Link: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/18050143

Takeaway Learning

In the most dysfunctional organizations, signaling that work is being
done becomes a better strategy for career advancement than actually doing work.

A startup is the largest group of people you can convince of a plan to build a different future.Startups operate on the principle that you need to work with other people to get stuff done, but you also need to stay small enough so that you actually can.

Progress can take one of two forms. Horizontal or extensive progress means copying things that
work—going from 1 to n. Horizontal progress is easy to imagine because we already
know what it looks like. Vertical or intensive progress means doing new things—
going from 0 to 1. Vertical progress is harder to imagine because it requires doing
something nobody else has ever done.

Creating value is not enough—you also need to capture some of the value you create.

If you focus on near-term growth above all else, you miss the most important
question you should be asking: will this business still be around a decade from now?
Numbers alone won’t tell you the answer. instead you must think critically about the
qualitative characteristics of your business

For monoploy in business, proprietry technology should be either brand new or 10 x improved of nearest competitor

4 affecting factor
– proprietry technology
– network effect
– economic of scale
– brand

Power law : one will outperform other, vc ensure to have that diverfication. so that one fund can cover their whole fund value. same applies in life.
select a company /carrier, that can give your more profit in next 10 years compare to role/jpb prfile etc.

From an early age, we are taught that the right way to do things is to proceed one very small step at
a time, day by day, grade by grade. If you overachieve and end up learning
something that’s not on the test, you won’t receive credit for it. But in exchange for
doing exactly what’s asked of you (and for doing it just a bit better than your peers),
you’ll get an A.

Secrets : So when thinking about what kind of company to build, there are two distinct
questions to ask: What secrets is nature not telling you? What secrets are people not
telling you?

The best place to look for secrets is where no one else is looking. Most people
think only in terms of what they’ve been taught; schooling itself aims to impart
conventional wisdom.

The Power Law of Distribution : Most businesses get zero distribution channels to work: poor sales rather than bad product is the most common cause of failure. If you can get just one distribution channel to work, you have a great business. If you try for several but don’t nail one, you’re
finished.

Seven questions every business should answer

1. The Engineering Question
   Can you create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements?
2. The Timing Question
   Is now the right time to start your particular business?
3. The Monopoly Question
   Are you starting with a big share of a small market?
4. The People Question
   Do you have the right team?
5. The Distribution Question
   Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your product?
6. The Durability Question
   Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years into the future?
7. The Secret Question
   Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don’t see?