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Notes on "Zero to One" by Peter Thiel

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Party like its 1999

Stefy
Stefy completed this card.
  • At their beginnings, and because people initially thought that they had no use for the digital currency, Paypal pay them $10 for signing up and another $10 for a successful referral. Although the strategy was unsustainable, they gained millions of dollars. 
  • After the bubble, entrepreneurs focused on these principles in keeping a business:

  1. Make incremental advances. Play it safe and start small.
  2. Stay lean and flexible. Instead of sticking to a business plan, make your company experiment on whatever comes up.
  3. Improve the competition. Find existing customers and create our company based on their needs and make yours better than the other businesses. 
  4. Focus on the product, not the sales. 

The following are far more effective:

  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 matter just as much as product.