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Zero to One

· 2 min read
Anil Shanbogh

If you have an interest in startups, I believe this book is definitely a great read. Especially if you've ever been involved with a startup, you will surely identify with the many points dotted throughout this concise collection of notes.

Origin​

This book came about based on the classroom notes for a course about startups in Stanford conducted by Peter Thiel.
It is extremely insightful and touches upon multiple aspects of a startup.

If startups could've been industrialized like how it was articulated in some famous books, all the thousands funded by Angels and VCs would've all been great successes.
Reality is far from it, very few succeed, while a great number of others tank in-spite of having money, great people, good processes and oversight.

I felt Zero to One covers the crucial points around people similarities, differences, conflicts, individual brilliance, money, idea evaluation, monopoly, competition and many other such aspects really well.
There are some very interesting thoughts around creating (0-1) vs scaling (1-n), possible future, competition vs monopoly, innovation etc; This book in my opinion is definitely a worthy read for anybody associated with a startup.

As a glimpse into this book, below is a helpful guide to evaluate your idea, if thinking of starting up.
Most likely if you go in for raising funding, your company/idea might be evaluated on similar lines by investors.

Evaluation of a startup idea​

  1. TECHNOLOGY - The Engineering Question

    Can you create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements?

  2. TIMING

    Is now the right time to start your particular business?

  3. MONOPOLY

    Are you starting with a big share of a small market?

  4. PEOPLE

    Do you have the right team?

  5. DISTRIBUTION

    Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your product?

  6. DURABILITY

    Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years into the future?

  7. SECRET

    Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don't see?

References​

Peter Thiel​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future​

https://books.apple.com/au/book/zero-to-one/id882793867

Excerpt

"EVERY MOMENT IN BUSINESS happens only once. The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won't make a search engine. And the next Mark Zuckerberg won't create a social network. If you are copying these guys, you aren't learning from them"