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A review by mgcarafa
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel, Blake Masters
2.0
While the material was interesting and insightful, Thiel cintinuously makes sweeping generalizations that apply to very select few businesses, including his own. Had this book been framed more towards "How Some Startups Exceed All Expectations" rather than "How to Build a Startup" it would have lent itself much better to the conclusions he draws.
Thiel seems to believe that the ONLY way to succeed is to be the very best at one new thing. He often states that you should have one successful vision for your business, and is highly against incremental change, a lean business model, or pivoting. But what if your original vision isn't massively successful? His answer to this question is essentially, "well just make sure your business model is successful in the first place." Yes, his two businesses were wildly successful, but he seems to have minimal minimal insight on a business that does not have a successful vision from the start and needs to think lean.
His advice and ideas are more applicable as a reflection on wildly successful companies rather than advice to build just any thriving business.
Thiel seems to believe that the ONLY way to succeed is to be the very best at one new thing. He often states that you should have one successful vision for your business, and is highly against incremental change, a lean business model, or pivoting. But what if your original vision isn't massively successful? His answer to this question is essentially, "well just make sure your business model is successful in the first place." Yes, his two businesses were wildly successful, but he seems to have minimal minimal insight on a business that does not have a successful vision from the start and needs to think lean.
His advice and ideas are more applicable as a reflection on wildly successful companies rather than advice to build just any thriving business.