Peter Thiel

the initial markets are so small that they often don’t even appear to be business opportunities at all.

a good rule of thumb, proprietary technology must be at least 10 times better than its closest substitute in some important dimension to lead to a real monopolistic advantage. Anything less than an order of magnitude better will probably be perceived as a marginal improvement and will be hard to sell, especially in an already crowded market.

cutthroat competition means your profits will be zero.

. The Engineering Question
Can you create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements?
2. The Timing Question
Is now the right time to start your particular business?
3. The Monopoly Question
Are you starting with a big share of a small market

o you have the right team?
5. The Distribution Question
Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your product?
6. The Durability Question
Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years into the future?
7. The Secret Question
Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don’t see?

So-called perfectly competitive markets achieve equilibrium when producer supply meets consumer demand.

So-called perfectly competitive markets achieve equilibrium when producer supply meets consumer demand.

Doing what we already know how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar. But every time we create something new, we go from 0 to 1.

Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply than genius

knowledge that everyone is taught in school is by definition agreed upon.