Mindmap: Zero to one
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
It’s easier to copy a model than to make something new. 1 to n ≠ 0 to 1
Today’s “best practices” lead to dead ends; the best paths are new and untried.
Less is more.
THE CHALLENGE OF THE FUTURE
“What important truth do very few people agree with you on?”
“Most people believe in x, but the truth is the opposite of x.”
ZERO TO ONE: THE FUTURE OF PROGRESS
STARTUP THINKING
It’s hard to develop new things in big organizations, and it’s even harder to do it by yourself.
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.
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1999
Companies exist to make money, not to lose it.
The internet craze of the ’90s was the biggest bubble since the crash of 1929. The first step to thinking clearly is to question what we think we know about the past.
A QUICK HISTORY OF THE ’90S
four big lessons from the dot-com crash
Make incremental advances
Stay lean and flexible
Improve on the competition
Focus on product, not sales
ALL HAPPY COMPANIES ARE DIFFERENT
What valuable company is nobody building?
If you want to create and capture lasting value, don’t build an undifferentiated commodity business.
THE IDEOLOGY OF COMPETITION
CREATIVE MONOPOLY means new products that benefit everybody and sustainable profits for the creator.
Competition means no profits for anybody, no meaningful differentiation, and a struggle for survival.