Zero to One_ Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future ( PDFDrive )

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Or, translated from PR-speak to plain English:Google is a small fish in a big pond. We could be swallowed whole at anytime. We are not the monopoly that the government is looking for.
RUTHLESS PEOPLEThe problem with a competitive business goes beyond lack of profits. Imagineyou’re running one of those restaurants in Mountain View. You’re not thatdifferent from dozens of your competitors, so you’ve got to fight hard to survive.If you offer affordable food with low margins, you can probably pay employeesonly minimum wage. And you’ll need to squeeze out every efficiency: that’swhy small restaurants put Grandma to work at the register and make the kidswash dishes in the back. Restaurants aren’t much better even at the very highestrungs, where reviews and ratings like Michelin’s star system enforce a culture ofintense competition that can drive chefs crazy. (French chef and winner of threeMichelin stars Bernard Loiseau was quoted as saying, “If I lose a star, I willcommit suicide.” Michelin maintained his rating, but Loiseau killed himselfanyway in 2003 when a competing French dining guide downgraded hisrestaurant.) The competitive ecosystem pushes people toward ruthlessness ordeath.A monopoly like Google is different. Since it doesn’t have to worry aboutcompeting with anyone, it has wider latitude to care about its workers, itsproducts, and its impact on the wider world. Google’s motto—“Don’t be evil”—is in part a branding ploy, but it’s also characteristic of a kind of business that’ssuccessful enough to take ethics seriously without jeopardizing its ownexistence. In business, money is either an important thing or it is everything.Monopolists can afford to think about things other than making money; nonmonopolistscan’t. In perfect competition, a business is so focused on today’smargins that it can’t possibly plan for a long-term future. Only one thing canallow a business to transcend the daily brute struggle for survival: monopolyprofits.
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2014 by Peter ThielAll
Page 5 and 6: PrefaceZERO TO ONEEVERY MOMENT IN B
Page 7 and 8: THE CHALLENGE OF THE FUTUREWHENEVER
Page 9 and 10: century air conditioning, and even
Page 11 and 12: STARTUP THINKINGNew technology tend
Page 13 and 14: A QUICK HISTORY OF THE ’90SThe 19
Page 15 and 16: MANIA: SEPTEMBER 1998-MARCH 2000Dot
Page 17 and 18: hurry. A South Korean firm wired us
Page 19 and 20: The entrepreneurs who stuck with Si
Page 21 and 22: dogmatically rejecting them. Instea
Page 23 and 24: In this book, we’re not intereste
Page 25 and 26: Think about how Google talks about
Page 27: between Hackers and Jaws: rap star
Page 31 and 32: monopoly profits provides a powerfu
Page 33 and 34: competed even harder for the standa
Page 35 and 36: Office vs. Docs, and Surface vs. Ne
Page 37 and 38: If you can’t beat a rival, it may
Page 39 and 40: In March 2001, PayPal had yet to ma
Page 41 and 42: CHARACTERISTICS OF MONOPOLYWhat doe
Page 43 and 44: 3. Economies of ScaleA monopoly bus
Page 45 and 46: BUILDING A MONOPOLYBrand, scale, ne
Page 47 and 48: Silicon Valley has become obsessed
Page 49 and 50: YOU ARE NOT A LOTTERY TICKETTHE MOS
Page 51 and 52: CAN YOU CONTROL YOUR FUTURE?You can
Page 53 and 54: merry in the meantime: hence Europe
Page 55 and 56: hubris. You can still visit the Bay
Page 57 and 58: businessman, but actually his own a
Page 59 and 60: opinion exactly, so for the most pa
Page 61 and 62: Francis Bacon wrote that “the pro
Page 63 and 64: American households were saving, at
Page 65 and 66: THE RETURN OF DESIGNWhat would it m
Page 67 and 68: YOU ARE NOT A LOTTERY TICKETWe have
Page 69 and 70: to understand: we don’t live in a
Page 71 and 72: The error lies in expecting that ve
Page 73 and 74: of companies that will successfully
Page 75 and 76: After 10 years, however, the portfo
Page 77 and 78: WHAT TO DO WITH THE POWER LAWThe po
Page 79 and 80:
SECRETSEVERY ONE OF TODAY’S most
Page 81 and 82:
WHY AREN’T PEOPLE LOOKING FOR SEC
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are found mostly in history books a
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THE WORLD ACCORDING TO CONVENTIONHo
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THE CASE FOR SECRETSYou can’t fin
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HOW TO FIND SECRETSThere are two ki
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WHAT TO DO WITH SECRETSIf you find
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FOUNDING MATRIMONYWhen you start so
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To see misalignment at its most ext
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ON THE BUS OR OFF THE BUSAs a gener
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VESTED INTERESTSStartups don’t ne
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10
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BEYOND PROFESSIONALISMThe first tea
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compensation or perks, but you can
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DO ONE THINGOn the inside, every in
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11
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NERDS VS. SALESMENThe U.S. advertis
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himself). The polar opposite busine
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The traditional U.S. aerospace indu
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mass appeal but lack any method of
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One of these methods is likely to b
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12
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SUBSTITUTION VS. COMPLEMENTARITYFif
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people. We don’t trade with compu
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computer hybrid approach from PayPa
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generalized artificial intelligence
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SEEING GREENAT THE START of the 21s
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5. The Distribution QuestionDo you
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THE TIMING QUESTIONCleantech entrep
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THE MONOPOLY QUESTIONIn 2006, billi
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Cleantech entrepreneurs’ thinking
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THE DISTRIBUTION QUESTIONCleantech
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gas, and gas prices had fallen more
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THE MYTH OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
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broader markets in the future.TEAM.
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world needs energy, only a firm tha
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THE FOUNDER’S PARADOXOF THE SIX P
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THE DIFFERENCE ENGINESome people ar
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Where does this strange and extreme
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Another example is Sean Parker, who
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WHERE KINGS COME FROMExtreme founde
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For some fallen stars, death brings
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distinctive persona? Or, in his inc
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the impeccably credentialed executi
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future will look a lot like the pre
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Singularity, an attempt to name the
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Illustration CreditsThe illustratio
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Boyle, RobertbrandingBranson, Richa
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Earnhardt, Dale, Jr.East Asian fina
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housing bubble, 2.1, 8.1Howery, Ken
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dynamism of newlies ofprofits ofpro
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Q-CellsRand, AynRawls, John, 6.1, 6
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globalization andproprietarytechnol
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About the AuthorsPeter Thiel is an
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Zero to One_ Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future ( PDFDrive )

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