Zero to One

Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

By: Peter Thiel, Blake Masters

Narrated by: Blake Masters

Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins

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

Critic reviews

“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

Gives you ideas on how to make a start-up

What made the experience of listening to Zero to One the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed listening to this book because of all the insight it had on what are start-ups and how can you keep them going. Very interesting.

What did you like best about this story?

What I loved best about this story was how it described a lot of the main companies, for example google, and provided details how they interact in today society.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

What moved me the most from this book was that the person who made this book was a co-founder of Paypal which gave this book a lot more credibility.

Must read for big thinkers

Great breakdown of lots of big questions for startups, founders and thinkers. Couldn't stop listening

Excellent. Best tech Business book I've ever read.

I give this book 4 stars and do so having extremely high standards. As in my standards are literary fiction, MSA sort of standards. not only is it short and Powerful it's quite smart. it is just. wow. The last line is my favorite of any book I can remember and I think it might also be the all around best last line of any book I can remember. I'm going to look up whether the author is a Heideggerean. I definitely recommend it.

in case you're wondering why not four stars, like almost all on the mass market this book underestimates the willingness of readers to sit through more exacting sentences in exchange for good Style. Of course for that you have to have style in your voice. like I said I have high standards. to be clear I just mean that the prose was fairly unadorned as compared to what I feel the author was probably capable of.

Well worth it

A very thoughtful book. Highly recommended. There is original thinking here which will force you to see the world in a different way.

My favorite book

I first read it in 2016 and it was impressive, this is my favorite book and from here I will use it as standard to make my audible and Amazon reviews, before I review any book I will answer myself "Does it provided helpful insight better or at same level than Zero to One?".

Brilliance combined with insight.

There is no doubt the man is brilliant with very keen insights. It does drag on quite a bit, but there is a substance and a curiosity about what he's saying that makes you want to listen.

Awesome and enjoyable read.

Great book for all entrepreneurs of all levels and experiences. A very tried, true, respected and well delivered perspective.

Inspirational thoughts

This is a very interesting book clearly describing the ways to follow to success in the building of a start-up company. I really liked that the general thoughts are combined with practical examples and recommendations. Based on my own recent experience from a start-up company, I can confirm that these thoughts are really applicable in practice at present.

Great point of view

Feels right on on many levels. I'd recommend for any startup manager or higher. Focus on what matters and build your way out of direct competition...

Lessons on creativity

This in an excellent book. I indicate it to anyone who's interested in lessons about creativity. I found just one negative aspect: the narrators performance.