#278 Peter Thiel

1558 snips

Nov 22, 2022

The discussion highlights the invaluable insights from Peter Thiel's book, emphasizing the unique visions of founders like Steve Jobs. It delves into the paradox of teaching entrepreneurship: every innovation is unique and cannot be reduced to a formula. The podcast explores the importance of monopolistic ventures and the power of choosing the right co-founder to drive success. Additionally, it showcases how effective sales strategies can overshadow product differentiation, ultimately shaping industry landscapes.

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ANECDOTE

Jobs' Return to Apple

Steve Jobs' return to Apple showcased the irreplaceable value of founders.
His singular vision revived Apple, contrasting with prior professional management's near bankruptcy.

INSIGHT

Tech Companies as Monarchies

Tech companies often resemble monarchies due to the founder's unique vision and authority.
This founder-led approach enables long-term planning and strong loyalty, unlike bureaucracies.

ADVICE

Zero to One Innovation

Build companies that create new things, not just copy existing ones.
Focus on "zero to one" innovation, creating new technologies that rewrite the plan of the world.

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Random reminiscences of men and events

John D Rockefeller

This book is a personal account of John D. Rockefeller's life and career, focusing on his encounters with influential people in the business world, particularly those involved in the Standard Oil Company. It includes reflections on his early partnerships, the development of the oil industry, and various business principles. Rockefeller shares stories of his daily and intimate companionship with his partners and associates, highlighting the importance of relationships and pivotal moments in his career. The book also touches on philanthropy and the challenges of giving, as well as Rockefeller's views on the happiness and moral responsibilities of wealthy individuals.

A Man for All Markets

From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market

Edward O. Thorp

In this book, Edward O. Thorp recounts his remarkable career, from inventing card counting systems to beat blackjack dealers, to developing mathematical formulas that gave him an edge in the financial markets. Thorp's story includes his invention of the world's first wearable computer to predict roulette outcomes, his detection of the Bernie Madoff scheme, and his interactions with notable figures like Warren Buffett and Rudy Giuliani. The book offers practical wisdom on investing, asset allocation, and wealth management, making it an intellectual thrill ride for readers interested in finance and mathematics.

Poor Charlie's Almanack

The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

Charles T. Munger

Peter D. Kaufman

Originally published in 2005, Poor Charlie's Almanack is a collection of eleven talks delivered by Charles T. Munger between 1986 and 2007. Edited by Peter D. Kaufman, this book draws on Munger's extensive knowledge across various fields to provide a framework for rational and rigorous approaches to life, learning, and decision-making. It is renowned for its sharp wit and rhetorical flair, making it an essential read for investors, entrepreneurs, and anyone seeking to enhance their wisdom and critical thinking skills.

The Founders

The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

Jimmy Soni

In 'The Founders', Jimmy Soni delves into the turbulent early days of PayPal, a company that would become one of the world's foremost payment platforms. With hundreds of interviews and unprecedented access to internal material, Soni chronicles the challenges faced by the founders, including bruising competition, internal strife, online fraud, and the dot-com bust of the 2000s. The book highlights how this group of entrepreneurs, often referred to as the 'PayPal mafia', went on to form, fund, and advise leading companies such as Tesla, Facebook, YouTube, SpaceX, and LinkedIn. It is a story of iteration, inventiveness, and the profound impact these individuals had on modern technology and entrepreneurship.

Zero to One

Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Peter Thiel

In 'Zero to One,' Peter Thiel argues that true innovation comes from creating something entirely new, going from 'zero to one,' rather than incrementally improving existing ideas. He emphasizes the importance of vertical progress through technology and the benefits of monopoly in driving innovation. Thiel also discusses the need for long-term planning, the importance of finding the right co-founders, and the power law in startup success. The book challenges conventional wisdom and encourages readers to think critically and aim big to build the future[2][3][5].

Explore/Create

My Life in Pursuit of New Frontiers, Hidden Worlds, and the Creative Spark

David Fisher

Richard Garriott

This memoir chronicles Richard Garriott's life, from his early days in the video game industry to his adventures in space and other extreme environments. Garriott, known as 'Lord British,' shares his experiences as a pioneer in the gaming industry, his expeditions to the Titanic wreck and Antarctica, and his journey into space. The book includes interactive activities and 'secret codes' from his games, making it an engaging and unique read. It highlights his insatiable curiosity, playfulness, and contributions to making space travel more accessible.

Conspiracy

Ryan Holiday

In 'Conspiracy', Ryan Holiday chronicles the intricate and ambitious plot by Peter Thiel to take down Gawker Media. The book is based on interviews with key players and delves into the strategic and philosophical underpinnings of Thiel's actions. It examines the intersection of power, privacy, and free speech in the digital age, highlighting the ruthless and brilliant tactics employed by Thiel. The narrative transcends a simple tale of a billionaire vs. a media empire, offering insights into the broader implications for culture and society.

What I learned from rereading Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel.

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[4:01] Jobs's return to Apple 12 years later shows how the most important task in business-the creation of new valuecannot be reduced to a formula and applied by professionals.

[5:00] A really important sentence to understand one of the main points in Peter’s book: Apple's value crucially depended on the singular vision of a particular person.

[5:00] A unique founder can make authoritative decisions, inspire strong personal loyalty, and plan ahead for decades.

[6:00] Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue and Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future (Founders #31)

[7:00] Properly understood, any new and better way of doing things is technology.

[8:00] By creating new technologies we rewrite the plan of the world.

[9:00] The paradox of teaching entrepreneurship is that such a formula necessarily cannot exist; because every innovation is new and unique, no authority can prescribe in concrete terms how to be innovative.

The single most powerful pattern I have noticed is that successful people find value in unexpected places, and they do this by thinking about business from first principles instead of formulas.

[10:00] The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That's maybe the most important thing. It's to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you're just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it. —Steve Jobs

[11:00] Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply than genius.

[13:00] A startup is the largest group of people you can convince of a plan to build a different future. A new company's most important strength is new thinking.

[14:00] What follows is not a manual or a record of knowledge but an exercise in thinking. Because that is what a startup has to do: question received ideas and rethink business from scratch.

[14:00] The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley by Jimmy Soni. (Founders #233)

[17:00] Their casual way of conducting affairs did not appeal to me. — Random Reminiscences of Men and Events by John D. Rockefeller (Founders #148)

[18:00] My number one repeated learning in life: There Are No Adults. Everyone's making it up as they go along. Figure it out yourself, and do it. —Naval Ravikant

[19:00] Bill Gurley’s answer to the question For people who were there, does this feel like dot-com bust level unwiding yet? Yes. Link to tweet

[21:00] Peter’s 4 principles for founders:

1. It is better to risk boldness than triviality.

2. A bad plan is better than no plan.

3. Competitive markets destroy profits.

4. Sales matters just as much as product.

[22:00] The most contrarian thing of all is not to oppose the crowd but to think for yourself.

[22:00] By “monopoly,” we mean the kind of company that’s so good at what it does that no other firm can offer a close substitute.

[24:00] Every business is successful exactly to the extent that it does something others cannot.

[25:00] Durability has always been a first rate virtue in Charlie’s eyes. — Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger. (Founders #90)

[27:00] If you focus on near-term growth above all else, you miss the most important question you should be asking: will this business still be around a decade from now?

[27:00] There is no shortcut to monopoly

[28:00] A substantive advantage makes your product difficult or impossible to replicate.

[30:00] The perfect target market for a startup is a small group of particular people concentrated together and served by few or no competitors.

[32:00] Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.

[32:00] Victory awaits him who has everything in order.

[33:00] My heroes are people who took epic journeys into the unknown often at substantial personal risk. I am simply following the path that they carved into history. —Explore/Create My Life in Pursuit of New Frontiers, Hidden Worlds, and the Creative Spark by Richard Garriott.

[35:00] Instead of pursuing many-sided mediocrity and calling it "wellroundedness," a definite person determines the one best thing to do and then does it. She strives to be great at something substantive— to be a monopoly of one.

[36:00] Long-term planning is often undervalued by our indefinite short-term world.

[39:00] Monopoly businesses capture more value than millions of undifferentiated competitors.

[40:00] Most startups fail and most venture funds fail with them.

[43:00] You cannot trust a world that denies the power law to accurately frame your decisions for you, so what's most important is rarely obvious. It might even be a secret.

[44:00] I also believed then, as I do now after more than fifty years as a money manager, that the surest way to get rich is to play only those games or make those investments where I have an edge. — A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market by Ed Thorp. (Founders #222)

[45:00] Schlep Blindness by Paul Graham

[46:00] Great companies can be built on open but unsuspected secrets about how the world works.

[47:00] Conspiracy: A True Story of Power, Sex, and a Billionaire's Secret Plot to Destroy a Media Empire by Peter Thielby Ryan Holiday

[48:00] The best entrepreneurs know this: every great business is built around a secret that's hidden from the outside.

[51:00] Keith Rabois on Peter Theil insisting on focus

[54:00] Superior sales and distribution by itself can create a monopoly, even with no product differentiation. The converse is not true.

[56:00] Advertising doesn’t exist to make you buy a product right away; it exists to embed subtle impressions that will drive sales later. Anyone who cannot acknowledge its likely effect on himself is doubly deceived.

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