Zero to One (Peter Thiel)

April 20, 2026

-start small in a new, niche market, not as a "competitor"

-create a 10x (order of magnitude) improvement

-don't focus on disruption; this frames you as an underdog competitor instead of creating something new

-solve a problem for a small, densely connected group of people

-build around proprietary product, network effects, and economies of scale

-indefinite optimism: the future will be better than the present, but there is no plan to get there

-indefiniteness is plaguing america, everyone wants to keep their options open

-what valuable company is nobody building?

-there are still hard secrets left, not just really easy/really hard

-competition and capitalism are opposites

Seven Questions

1.Engineering: can you create technology that is a breakthrough, not just an incremental improvement?

2.Timing: is now the right time to do it?

3.Monopoly: are you starting with a big share of a small market?

4.People: do you have the right team?

5.Distribution: do you have a way to deliver, not just create, your product?

6.Durability: will your market position be defensible 10-20 years from now?

7.Secret: have you identified a unique opportunity that others don't see?