Book Review of Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

I recently finished this book by Peter Thiel. This is a book about learning and challenging status quo thinking.

My key takeaways:

1. If you can copy someone you haven’t learned from them.
2. Today’s “best” practices are “dead ends”, the best paths are new and unutilized.
3. Most animals only follow cosmic scripts. Humans alone can rewrite the plan of the world using technology. 

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​Continue reading to review all my key take-aways from each chapter.

Chapter 1: Progress

1. Two types of progress
   1. Horizontal/Extensive- copying things that work
   2. Vertical/Intensive- doing new things
2. We are stuck in a paradigm that technologies are rapidly growing and expanding. Yet, only computers/communion really have. Most others are still quite old.
3. Small groups develop technologies fastest since they are free of bureaucratic hierarchies which slow them down. (extension in promotion of innovation)

Chapter 2: 90’s Tech Crash

1. Four lessons from 90’s tech crash
   1. Make incremental advances (small steps)
   2. Stay lean (small) and flexible
   3. Improve on competition rather than create a new market
   4. Focus on product, not sails
2. These lessons have inhibited our growth. Real lessons/principals should be:
   1. Better to risk boldness than triviality
   2. A bad plan is better than no plan
   3. Competitive markets destroy products
   4. Sails mater just as much as product

Chapter 3: Monopolies

1. Ask “What valuable company is nobody building?”
2. Value comes from being unique
3. Monopolies have the ability to expand independent of competition

(Extension is a monopoly if you think about it)

Chapter 4: Competition

1. Use competition for ideas and motivation
2. Don’t make competition force you to hallucinate opportunity

Chapter 5: Look to Long Term $

1. Four attributes to consider:
   1. Proprietary technology. Often requires innovation, seek to improve.
   2. Network Effects. Encourages group involvement.
   3. Economics of scale. Plan ahead for growth.
   4. Branding. Create it and protect it.
2. Starts with small market monopolies then grow.

Chapter 6: Luck

1. Continuum of world perspectives – pg. 62
   1. Definite vs. Indefinite
   2. Optimistic vs. Pessimistic
2. Current vs. Culture = indefinite optimism
   1. Makes us want it stockpile assets without purpose
   2. Makes companies stay lean and sleek “Evocation” without design
3. We should prioritize design over change

Chapter 7: Investing in new companies

1. Not relevant to extension

Chapter 8: Secrets

1. We live in a trichotomy of the easy, the hard, and the impossible.
2. Society believes “hard” doesn’t exist – only easy and impossible.
   1. Because of incrementalism, risk aversion, complacency, and flatness
3. Secrets hold the “hard” things.
4. Understanding the secrets are key to success.

Chapter 9: Foundations of Success

1. Decisions include
   1. Who to start with
   2. Who controls
   3. Part time or full time help
   4. Pay of associates
   5. Rate of expansion ( Add Devotion to it)

Chapter 10: Coworker Readiness

1. Keep comfortable relationship outside professionalism
2. Have benefits that attract quality “conspirators”
   • Have unique benefits that they won’t find elsewhere
3. Ask, “Will I enjoy working with them?” not, “Will the get the job done?”
4. Give specific responsibilities
5. Discontinue competition

Chapter 11: Sales and Advertising

1. Thoughts of “how do I spend this” should immediately fallow creation
2. Sales people needed for >$10,000, advertising for >$10,000
3. Try to make it memorable
4. Viral network marketing best
   1. Produce incentives for sharing with friends
   2. Use social media
5. Don’t just sell products sell the company

Chapter 12: Using Technology for Labor

1. This chapter all about using computers to replace people. Not horribly applicable to extension.

Chapter 13: Cleantech

1. Great list of seven questions to ask on pgs. 153-154  
2. Overall chapter reviews previous concepts and looks at cleantech companies, again not really extension related 

Chapter 14: Attributes of Founders

1. Many founder don’t fit the expected mold
2. Anybody can do it – Just be yourself and don’t underestimate your power as an individual.

​Conclusion

1. Humanity will take one of four paths
   1. Recurrent collapse
   2. Plateau
   3. Extinction
   4. Take-off (the most likely outcome)
2. Singularity = the state where technologies transcend out understanding of limits.
3. Have confidence that the future has lots of room for growth and can play a role I shaping it.

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