“Zero to One” by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters
A Book review of “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters
Zero to One: Notes on Start-ups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters offers profound insights into the start-up world, launching new ventures, and the inherent competition that drives progress. As an insider’s guide written by a seasoned venture capitalist and his former student, this book provides a fascinating roadmap for entrepreneurs seeking to build disruptive companies from the ground up.
The book opens by capturing the reader’s imagination with its premise: Every great company starts by “creating something new under the sun.” Instead of pursuing incremental improvements to existing ideas — competing on pre-existing ground — “Zero to One” companies strive for “monopoly profits” by occupying new markets they themselves create.
The important thing about a monopoly is that it’s original. It’s not efficient. It’s not cheap. If it was cheap and efficient, competitors would have copied it and made it disappear…The key is to start with something that’s never existed before and take it, develop it, and expand it as far as possible.
Themes of monopolies, first-mover advantages, creating “optionality,” seizing “asymmetric market opportunities,” and engineering “escape velocity” from competition permeate the book. However, Thiel and Masters argue that progress depends not on generic “innovation” but on “building new things that restructure the world in measurable ways.”
The book provides stimulating ideas on the merits of targeting “adjacent possible” opportunities before others and focuses on the realities of executing a start-up: hiring correctly, fund-raising challenges, varying growth rates, and exit strategies. However, the authors give disproportionate coverage to Silicon Valley examples, and one wishes for more discussion of other sectors and geographies.
Overall, “Zero to One” provides an intellectually engaging framework for aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to build truly original companies. However, some may find Thiel and Masters’ prescription for competitive “monopolistic” ambition overly theoretical and at odds with a more collaborative view of innovation. Nonetheless, the book stimulates valuable reflections on what it takes to build impactful new businesses that transform our world.
In summary, “Zero to One” offers a though-provoking blueprint for founders seeking to start the “next big thing.” The book challenges readers to think differently about competition, first-mover advantages, and questions of scope and scale when evaluating new business opportunities. While not for everyone, it could help aspiring entrepreneurs avoid competitive “crawling” in favour of “leaping” to build truly pioneering enterprises.
