Author: Peter Thiel
Rating: 4/5
Notable Quotes:
“Sometimes you do have to fight. Where that’s true, you should fight and win. There is no middle ground: either don’t throw any punches, or strike hard and end it quickly.”
“A product is viral if its core functionality encourages users to invite their friends to become users too.”
“Our task today is to find singular ways to create the new things that will make the future not just different, but better – to go from 0 to 1”
Summary (less than 100 words):
Doing what we already know takes the world from 1 to n while creating something new goes from 0 to 1. It’s hard to develop new things in big organisations so create a small team of people who are likeminded and are devoted to the companies mission. A startup messed up at its foundation cannot be fixed so make sure the foundation is strong. Make sure that you don’t let other peoples mistakes affect you, do your own things as you are different and thus will weild different results. Make sure that you have an effective way to sell your product.
Computers are a crucial part of our lives, we shouldn’t look at them as competition but rather as companions, how can they help you to solve hard problems?
Interesting things you learnt:
Small teams trying new things can be one of the most effective ways to get something completely fresh up and running.
Start small and expand, make sure your idea can work on a small scale as this is where it will have to start.
Every one of todays most famous and familiar ideas was once unknown and unsuspected, go out and look for secrets and remember that the best place to look for secrets is where no one else is looking.
Always keep asking your self “What will the world look like in 10 to 20 years and how will your business fit into it?”
Owen Venter 