zero to one

Zero to One – Peter Thiel with Blake Masters

Why I bought it

I bought Zero to One as the author launched PayPal and now invests in some of the biggest Silicon Valley companies or what you could call up and comers.

Having read the reviews by individuals such as Bill Gates, Forbes, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk you have to look at the book and feel there are areas which you can extract and utilise for your own personal circumstances.

My thoughts

It’s extremely easy to get through whilst not having too much mumbo jumbo business talk.

Every time you turn the page it’s relatively easy to read the next one. You’re then looking for the next page to give you the next answer and next idea. It’s broken down into clear and concise chapters and I felt it was extremely helpful when looking into how to separate yourself from everybody else.

It isn’t a blueprint on how to run a new and successful business but it does give ideas and understanding as to how to separate yourself from the masses. It isn’t a Bible and it isn’t going to make you successful but it is going to give you ideas and that’s the most important thing and I feel that’s what the book sets out to do.

Thiel explains why some businesses fail, why some CEOs are not successful with one business but are with another and where the business is going moving forward. With the addition of examples and understandings from others, it really does assist in creating the mindset for success. You can revert back to the book if you have a bad day if you have a failure if things just don’t go your way and hopefully you can find an answer in here which allows you to progress and move forward. As mentioned the book is not a blueprint for success but can give you ideas on how to be successful and if you implement these ideas correctly, with the correct business, there is a feeling that things will work out positively.

Who this is for?

For any entrepreneur, someone leading a team or working within a business which is looking to break boundaries. This is useful to read, you understand where the author has been, where he wants to go and also the steps he took to get there. It clarifies that having a team around you who are in the same mindset as you is incredibly important. Being able to lean on those in that team is vital. You need people on the same page.

Any business leader really should read this. It doesn’t take too long and even if you do disagree with some of the points inside the book it’s still a useful read. As mentioned it doesn’t take too long to get through therefore you could probably read it on a 2 hour flight or a train journey. Just because it isn’t long doesn’t mean that it isn’t good

Short Extracts

The most contrarian thing of all is to not oppose the crowd but to think for yourself.

If you want to create and capture lasting value, don’t build an undifferentiated commodity business.

The perfect target market for start-up is a small group of particular people concentrated together and served by few or no competitors.

Start ups don’t need to pay high salaries because they can offer something better: part ownership of the company itself.

The graffiti artist who painted Facebook’s office walls in 2005 got stock that turned out to be worth 200 million dollars, while a talented engineer who joined in 2010 might have made only $2,000,000.

Perhaps every modern King is just a scapegoat who has managed to delay his own execution.

Where to buy

Any good bookshop, or online store, will stock Zero to One. It’s published by Virgin Books with ISBN 978-0-75355-520-0

Links

For more books, check out the Elusive Book List on Amazon but it will shortly be on our new website. We will of course, review more of these in time, but any questions feel free to drop us an email at bookclub@elusivegroup.co.uk or ask it directly on our Book Group.

And remember to follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram where we also post quotes from every book we read and review.

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