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

by Peter Thiel

Personal Sales

Marketing and Advertising

Advertising can work for startups, too, but only when your customer acquisition costs and customer lifetime value make every other distribution channel uneconomical.

No early-stage startup can match big companies’ advertising budgets.

Viral Marketing

However, by directly paying people to sign up and then paying them more to refer friends, we achieved extraordinary growth.

The Power Law of Distribution

poor sales rather than bad product is the most common cause of failure.

If you can get just one distribution channel to work, you have a great business. If you try for several but don’t nail one, you’re finished.

the seven questions that every business must answer: 1. The Engineering Question Can you create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements? 2. The Timing Question Is now the right time to start your particular business? 3. The Monopoly Question Are you starting with a big share of a small market? 4. The People Question Do you have the right team? 5. The Distribution Question Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your product? 6. The Durability Question Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years into the future? 7. The Secret Question Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don’t see?

All businessman must know this

THE ENGINEERING QUESTION A great technology company should have proprietary technology an order of magnitude better than its nearest substitute.

Only when your product is 10x better can you offer the customer transparent superiority.

And if you can’t monopolize a unique solution for a small market, you’ll be stuck with vicious competition.