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  • Zero to One

  • Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
  • Written by: Peter Thiel, Blake Masters
  • Narrated by: Blake Masters
  • Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (974 ratings)

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Zero to One cover art

Zero to One

Written by: Peter Thiel, Blake Masters
Narrated by: Blake Masters
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Publisher's Summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“This book delivers completely new and refreshing ideas on how to create value in the world.”—Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta

“Peter Thiel has built multiple breakthrough companies, and Zero to One shows how.”—Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla

The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shows how we can find singular ways to create those new things.

Thiel begins with the contrarian premise that we live in an age of technological stagnation, even if we’re too distracted by shiny mobile devices to notice. Information technology has improved rapidly, but there is no reason why progress should be limited to computers or Silicon Valley. Progress can be achieved in any industry or area of business. It comes from the most important skill that every leader must master: learning to think for yourself.

Doing what someone else already knows how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar. But when you do something new, you go from 0 to 1. The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. Tomorrow’s champions will not win by competing ruthlessly in today’s marketplace. They will escape competition altogether, because their businesses will be unique.

Zero to One presents at once an optimistic view of the future of progress in America and a new way of thinking about innovation: it starts by learning to ask the questions that lead you to find value in unexpected places.

©2014 Peter Thiel (P)2014 Random House Audio

What the critics say

“Crisply written, rational and practical, Zero to One should be read not just by aspiring entrepreneurs but by anyone seeking a thoughtful alternative to the current pervasive gloom about the prospects for the world.” The Economist

"An extended polemic against stagnation, convention, and uninspired thinking. What Thiel is after is the revitalization of imagination and invention writ large…." – The New Republic

"Might be the best business book I've read...Barely 200 pages long and well lit by clear prose and pithy aphorisms, Thiel has written a perfectly tweetable treatise and a relentlessly thought-provoking handbook." Derek Thompson, The Atlantic

What listeners say about Zero to One

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All good business should be monopoly

"All good business should be monopoly". It helps me navigate away from the mediocre incrementalism.

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Amazing

Coming out of this on a brand new perspective on product value and a Complete paradigm shift. Amazing

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Great read!

This book gives some very good lessons to take and apply to your business immediately. I will be re reading this one in the future!

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monotonous narrator but insightful content

monotonous narrator but insightful content. The narrator is reading out loud instead of telling a story. The writing is smart, thoughtful and concise

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Interesting, but too short

Really good ideas and fundamental principles for starting a business. Would have liked more analysis on the key factors for a successful company. I would recommend, but probably only the hardcopy book that you get on sale.

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A great guide to approach innovation

Insightful beginners guide for launching a tech startup. Some cool stories first hand from the person(s) behind PayPal, Facebook, and Tesla. Great point of view of how investors think.

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Challanged a lot of my understanding

I’ve been in business, corporate and military. This book challanged a lot of my beliefs and assumptions that I learned in the past. I Recommend.

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take some time to listen

you don't want to just jump into a new business without doing your research. this is that. take some time so you can succeed!

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Very helpful for my future business

I initially read this book because Elon musk recommended it in an interview I saw him in. There are many ideas in here that were mind opening to me. Peter Theil has a great philosophy on how to strategize a startup success and the proof is in his work, he founded and sold PayPal along with invested in Facebook and started other notable businesses. I particularly liked the part that touched on how important design will be in the process to having a comparative advantage on your competitors and the notion of being an innovator instead trying to one-up your competition. This book has given me the right mindset and tools to confidently start applying to startups and surround myself with people who have entrepreneurial and growth mindsets. If you are interested in books like this, I also recommend Simon Sinek's "Start With Why". After reading both, I noticed a common theme that people definitely don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it and this is a helpful way to think about any business endeavor.

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Incredible Insight on the World of Startups

Thiel offers his personal look into the environment of Startups, Venture Capital & success in business. Built around his concept of being truly revolutionary by going from "Zero to One" presents a fresh perspective on how to approach new ventures and business in general. #Audible1

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