There is one thing for sure, I am not the first one and will not be the last one to review this book. Peter Thiel is a well-known entrepreneur and now venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. He funded Paypal with Max Levchin (CEO of Affirm), Luke Nosek (Founder of Gigafund) and Ken Howery (Founders Fund). If you want to see where are all the former employe of Paypal, take a look at the Paypal Mafia, it is impressive.
Now, let's focus on the book. Zero to one means a lot. Going from zero to one is way harder than from one to ten or from ten to a hundred. Zero to one means going from nothing to something, it's the beginning and it's always the scariest thing to do. I've read in multiple books that being an entrepreneur and starting from nothing is like jumping from a plane without a parachute. You better find a solution before you arrive at the bottom. In this book, Peter points out multiple facts that should be evaluated when you build your company, it's a good list of what to do and what to avoid.
In chapter 2, he gave four good advises that he has learned from the dot-com bubble.
Number one, make incremental advances, meaning be humble. Every entrepreneur is optimistic and you have to be. If you don't believe in your idea, who will? But, it is important to be humble and to evaluate each step you take, changing the world will not happen overnight.
Number two, stay lean and flexible; be open-minded. When you start a new business, you will pivot and more than once. Make sure to stay open-minded and to be ready to change the direction of the company if it's in the best interest of everyone.
Number three, improve on the competition. Make sure you review the market from all perspectives. It is rare to really be the first in a market. You will mostly have a competitor or a similar product from where you can upgrade and grow.
Number four, focus on product, not sale. This is simple, make sure your product is so good that you don't need to sell it. If you have to hire a ton of salespeople to sell, that just means that you are forcing the consumer to buy something he doesn't necessarily need. Make your product indispensable.
All happy companies are different: each on earns a monopoly by solving a unique problem. All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition.
To be successful, you have to be different. That doesn't mean reinventing the wheel but you need to make sure that you have a point of differentiation. A way for your company to become a monopoly, something that no one else offers. Don't fool yourself, if you find a monopoly, you will have to fight for it since others will want to copy your idea. Peter raises one good point about competitors. Competition is not mandatory, you should not fight it at the price of innovation. Sometimes the best attack is the defense. As a good example, Peter decided to merge Paypal with X.com in 2000 to make sure companies will not fight against each other. X.com was the company of Elon Musk.
Peter gives in chapter 5, four advantages that companies normally have versus their competition. They don't necessarily have all four but having one of them can drastically help your company.
1. Proprietary technology
This is clearly your only possible technological advantage. If you can have some proprietary technology, you should be able to be a monopoly as long as the technology stays yours. Don't forget that patents expire, for example.
2. Network effects
This is something I've learned while pursuing my degree at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. To make it simple, imagine being on Facebook and being the only one on it. That would be useless, correct? This is network effect. The more users using your product, the better the product is. In a world of data, having more users is important to make sure you develop your product to reach as many people as possible.
3. Economies of scale
This simply means build more at a lower cost. When you need to build a large quantity, you can normally buy raw material in bulk or automate your production. This only happens when you have a market for this. It is normally an advantage for bigger companies, but a small company needs to keep that in mind.
4. Branding
When you buy toothpaste, why do you buy Colgate over the generic version? Because you trust Colgate. The brand of your company is the soul. You need to make sure to put some effort into it but again, don't force the brand on your customer. Work on the product instead; it's more effective.
In philosophy, politics, and business, too, arguing over process has become a way to endlessly defer making concrete plans for a better future.
And this is why big corporations are really slow to move. If you have ever worked for a big company, you will quickly see how politics in the company literally kill innovation. Make sure you choose your colleagues wisely.
In chapter 7, Peter talks about how an entrepreneur cannot diversify himself. We often hear about the importance of diversifying our investment portfolio to make sure to limit our risk, but as a person this is impossible. This is why being an entrepreneur is risky and you need to make sure to fully believe in your idea.
One advice that really resonated with me is:
On the bus or off the bus. As a general rule, everyone you involve with your company should be involved full-time.
I've seen the impact of working with contractors or part-time employees. Unfortunately, it is human nature to not fully dedicate yourself to a project if you are not considered a full employee. Normally, a contractor doesn't have the same benefits as other full-time employees and therefore don't feel the need to be as efficient as their colleagues.
ReadVesting Rating
Investing
This book is mostly about Entrepreneurship but if you see your time behind an investment, which you should, this book is a must-read. I give a 75% rating for Investing.
Entrepreneurship
This book is a must-read for any entrepreneur or future entrepreneur. There is a reason why Peter Thiel is so successful. His mindset on multiple aspects of the life of an entrepreneur is clear and powerful. I give a 100% rating for entrepreneurship.
Personal Growth
Yes, this book is about entrepreneurship but also how as humans we can make great things. What could be the impact of automatization and computer-assisted device? What are the do and do-not in a business are often similar to the do and do-not in life. I give a 90% rating for personal growth for all these reasons.
ReadVesting Rate
I give this book the rate of 9.5, because nothing is perfect.
