Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups or How to Build the Future gives inside knowledge on the various questions to ask that will help you find value in unexpected places. It’s not about replicating the structures previously created by the Bill Gates’ and Elon Musk’s of the world, but knowing how to confidently develop your own business. That is, creating something where there was nothing. Going from zero to one.
Thiel aims to create and maintain a monopoly. This allows for profits that lead to innovation and investment in a greater future. Controversially, Thiel claims that capitalism and competition are opposites, with competition wiping out profits, reducing future investment.
Thiel states you can protect your monopoly in three ways. Network effects, where large networks produce increased returns to all users, economies of scale, which reduces production costs and make it difficult for competitors to run at a profit, and branding awareness, which lowers distribution costs and makes your business the go to for consumers.
Thiel believes that we can shape our own future, but you need to focus on specific skills to allow you to build and maintain your monopoly.
By Llew Cross
