September 20: Takeaways from Zero to One

Source: Zero to One, by Peter Thiel
Published: September 2014

Takeaways from Zero to One

In 2014 Peter Thiel — the co-founder of PayPal, Palantir, and Founder’s Fund — wrote a book titled Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future. Here are my takeaways:

• In the most dysfunctional organizations, signaling that work is being done becomes a better strategy for career advancement than actually doing work (if this describes your company, you should quit now).
• Recruiting is a core competency for any company. It should never be outsourced.
• A product is viral if its core functionality encourages users to invite their friends to become users too.
• The perfect target market for a startup is a small group of particular people concentrated together and served by few or no competitors.
• When you start something, the first and most crucial decision you make is whom to start it with. Choosing a co-founder is like getting married, and founder conflict is just as ugly as divorce.
• All salesmen are actors: their priority is persuasion, not sincerity.
• The most valuable businesses of the coming decades will be built by entrepreneurs who seek to empower people rather than try to make them obsolete.