Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Zero to One summary
Peter Thiel
Blake Masters
Notes on Startups, or How to Build The Future
26 mins
Brief summary
Zero to One by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters presents insights on entrepreneurship and innovation. The book emphasizes the importance of creating something new instead of competing in an existing market. It offers a unique perspective on how to build successful startups and businesses.
Table of Contents
Zero to One
Summary of 10 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 10
Stop imitating, and start thinking outside established conventions.
Try to imagine the world in the year 2100. What can you see?
The future you imagine is probably different from today’s world in some ways. After all, thinking about the future means thinking about some sort of progress. We’ve all internalized this idea because we share the experience that the world we lived in as children was different from today in many ways. Most importantly, there was a lot of technological progress along the way.
So, let’s get back to the exercise. If you think about the year 2100, what comes to your mind? Maybe you imagine super-fast planes. Silent and sleek self-driving cars. Computer monitors that are so thin you can barely see them from the side. You probably imagine a future that’s full of improved versions of products and services that already exist today.
This is known as horizontal progress. It’s based on expanding on existing ideas and innovations. Here, globalization is a common driver because it helps spread existing ideas to more people. But if you want to be truly innovative, making horizontal progress isn’t enough. You should aim for vertical progress, creating an utterly new technology or method.
The invention of the smartphone was the result of vertical progress: we went from a world without smartphones to a world with smartphones. Distributing them to new markets in developing countries, on the other hand, was horizontal progress – companies simply expanded on what was already there.
And this is where Thiel’s idea of “going from zero to one” comes in. Think of a coordinate system. The x-axis represents horizontal progress – improving and copying – going from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 and so on, or, in mathematical terms, going from 1 to n. The y-axis represents vertical progress – going from nothing to something, or from 0 to 1.
Want to see all full key ideas from Zero to One?
Key ideas in Zero to One
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is Zero to One about?
Zero to One (2014) offers advice to start-up founders. It shows how to establish a monopoly by creating proprietary technology, a strong brand, scalable products, and by using network effects.
Zero to One Review
Zero to One (2014) is a thought-provoking book by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters that explores the philosophy of creating and building something truly new. Here's why this book is definitely worth reading:
- It offers insightful perspectives on entrepreneurship and innovation, challenging conventional wisdom and inspiring readers to think differently.
- The book provides a practical framework for turning ideas into successful businesses, emphasizing the importance of monopolies and the power of differentiation.
- With its engaging storytelling and rich examples, it captures the reader's attention, ensuring that the complex concepts are easily understood and not boring.
Who should read Zero to One?
- Current and potential start-up founders
- Anyone interested in why certain start-ups succeed and others fail
- Investors
Categories with Zero to One
Book summaries like Zero to One
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked these summaries
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
33 Million
Downloads on all platforms
10+ years
Experience igniting personal growth
Zero to One FAQs
What is the main message of Zero to One?
In Zero to One, Peter Thiel and Blake Masters emphasize the importance of creating unique and innovative ideas to build successful businesses.
How long does it take to read Zero to One?
The reading time for Zero to One varies depending on the reader's speed. However, you can read the Blinkist summary in just 15 minutes.
Is Zero to One a good book? Is it worth reading?
Zero to One is worth reading as it offers valuable insights into entrepreneurship and encourages original thinking, making it beneficial for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Who is the author of Zero to One?
Peter Thiel and Blake Masters co-authored Zero to One.
What to read after Zero to One?
If you're wondering what to read next after Zero to One, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- ReWork by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
- As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
- Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh
- Power Play by Tim Higgins
- Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim