Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
Ratings190
Average rating3.9
One of the most important business books ever written. It’s really the first and only entry into the niche category of something you could call, “Innovation philosophy”. A must read for ambitious founders.
What a mess. Bought this based on numerous good reviews and recommendations, but this is one of the worst things I've ever read. Incoherent, unsubstantiated, and sometimes even delusional.
There may be knowledge in this book, but it's hidden behind a wall of self-serving gibberish.
Time spent studying this book: 18h54m
Reading Sessions: 19
What I liked: I initially delayed reading this book because of what I heard and read about Peter Thiel. I shouldn't have. Reading somebody is a great way to create at least sympathy – not empathy – to their mindset. Reading Zero to One gave me a much better understanding of how some of the most successful VCs think about the world surrounding them. I understood how they choose the companies they invest in and build their team. It was both informative and helpful as I evolve in that universe. I don't agree with all he is saying and that's okay. I also took this book to better understand Peter Thiel and people like him. In that regard, I wholly got my investment in time back and I am sure it will pay dividends in the future.
What I disliked: Taking innumerable examples from history, there were some shortcuts taken to suit his discourse. It wasn't too bad but still, you have to be cautious stepping into the mind of someone, you might end-up trapped inside it. I also disliked the very PR feeling from some chapters, which make sense as the inception of this book was teaching/recruiting at Stanford.
Comic book analogy: Peter Thiel closer comic-book parallel in my head is Ozymandias. Billionaire contrarian who sees humans on a very macro-level, ready to take the heat and make extremely bold and controversial moves, all for what he believes is “the greater good”. Peter, I know you enjoy Tolkien work, but isn't that analogy great too?
While reading Elon Musk's biography, he touches quite a bit on his time at Paypal, including working with Peter Thiel. When I realized Thiel also had a biography out, I knew it would be next.
This book leads with a question: “What important truth do very few people agree with you on?”. When I heard this, I had to pause the audiobook and think this one through. Before I knew it, I'd been stewing on this question for over an hour!
The next biggest takeaway was the idea that the next “big thing” won't be a tweak on existing piece of software, but a completely new market. Bill Gates won the operating system money. Google the Search Engine market. Facebook the social network. It's better to dive into a new category than try to copy an existing one.
The first half of the book was great. Had a lot of good insights and made sense for someone in the startup world to read... The second half of the book was a train-wreck. It lost sight of the goal of the book and ended up only tangentially on point. This would have made an amazing two-part blog post where I forgot about Part 2 and didn't have to pay to read. Oh well.
Maybe I should go read the first few chapters again and feel better about this book.
Often advised, I was a bit reluctant to start this book but I must admit it is both clever, well written and full of deep insights about business, humanity and the possible futures. I found it really well balanced, far from
the image I had of Peter Thiel until now.
Sometimes I'll start a sentence, and I don't even know where it's going. I just hope I find it along the way. Like an improv conversation. An improversation.
While reading Elon Musk's biography, he touches quite a bit on his time at Paypal, including working with Peter Thiel. When I realized Thiel also had a biography out, I knew it would be next.
This book leads with a question: “What important truth do very few people agree with you on?”. When I heard this, I had to pause the audiobook and think this one through. Before I knew it, I'd been stewing on this question for over an hour!
The next biggest takeaway was the idea that the next “big thing” won't be a tweak on existing piece of software, but a completely new market. Bill Gates won the operating system money. Google the Search Engine market. Facebook the social network. It's better to dive into a new category than try to copy an existing one.
I'm a peter Thiel fan and look up to these VC's in the industry. When I started my journey with my Startup I found myself completely in the dark to how and where to go when it came to funding and how to build my startup. though things didn't work out in the end it definitely gave me a foot print from an actual giant in the industry. Loved every aspect of this book and really was able to educate myself on the expectations and demands of running a startup. Definitely recommend to anyone about to go down the road of a startup before you spend THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of dollars on an idea, and I say that in the nicest way possible.
It still reads like lecture notes. Some lectures are good and full of ideas it's hard not to agree with, some are full of business book bullshit and graphs like this. Maybe, if you want to make some non-crappy string theory references, general education still has some value.
What I liked: Concise and straight to the point, he did not waste his time with word-fillers and unnecessary descriptions. Offered valuable insight on startups, technology, and innovations in general (maybe life too if you want to treat it like a startup)
What I did not like: it feels like a series of lectures or podcast more than a book. Lacks style and some ideas might be contradicting. Also, I personally hate the use of buzzwords and he uses a bunch.
Who should read it? Anyone interested in technology or business
1-line summary: if you want to make an impact, make sure you're creating not duplicating
• This needed to be more cohesive
• Contains ideas and topics that are all over the place and don't end up connecting to one another
It sounds like I shouldn't become a founder, I need to be eccentric and also younger.
This book took a wicked turn at the end and just went off the rails.
I just don't know what the point of this book was. Whole chapters seemed designed only to pad the page count. Thiel's vision for a healthy startup is uninteresting to me as a workplace. It's just... maybe American love this, I don't know.
Somewhat overhyped. The main point, praising “monopolies” in certain contexts, is interesting (though he is sloppy with the word). The back half rambles a bit and doesn't quite connect to the main premise. Still worth reading for startup founders and others interested in the subject.
Me dio una nueva perspectiva respecto a ventas.
Creo que el autor es una de las personas mas inteligentes en el tema de negocios tecnologicos.
Me dejo muchas cosas para meditar y ahora soy un admirador del autor.
Good read for anyone involved with or contemplating involvement with a small business. Despite its flaws, the book raises important questions that any entrepreneur or anyone working with one should be asking. Your answers don't have to align with Peter's - I found his analysis simplistic and misleading in many cases - but the questions are absolutely worth asking.
“Zero to One” tries to boil down many complex situations to simple categories and choices. Entire continents (Europe) and most business models (anything “incremental”) are dismissed. I realize it makes for a shorter, crisper book, but I am put off by such obvious under-appreciation of subtlety and nuance. The author is weakest when he dips into pop psychology with generalizations about optimism/pessimism of entire nations or psych profiles of startup founders. When Peter sticks closer to his area of expertise, however, interesting material abounds: the concept of “secrets” about nature or people, the characteristics of monopolies, the observations about Power Law as it applies to individuals or markets or distribution, the rundown of startup basics (team, board, hiring, the seven viability questions), the admonitions about sales and distribution.