''Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future'' is a 2014 book by the American entrepreneur and investor

Peter Thiel Peter Andreas Thiel (; born 11 October 1967) is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in Fac ...

co-written with

Blake Masters Blake Gates Masters (born August 5, 1986) is an American venture capitalist and political candidate. Frequently referred to as a protégé of businessman Peter Thiel, Sources that call Masters a protégé of Thiel include: * * * * Masters c ...

. It is a condensed and updated version of a highly popular set of online notes taken by Masters for the CS183 class on startups, as taught by Thiel at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in Spring 2012.

Promotion

To promote the book, Peter Thiel sent out his first (and only) tweet ever on September 8, 2014. He was also interviewed by

Alexia Tsotsis Alexia Bonatsos, (born 1982), is a venture capitalist and former co-editor of ''TechCrunch'', a technology news website. In 2011, she was listed by ''Forbes'' magazine as among the top 30 under 30 in the Media category. Early life and education ...

of ''

TechCrunch TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...

''. On September 9, Thiel was interviewed on

Timothy Ferriss Timothy Ferriss (born July 20, 1977) is an American entrepreneur, investor, author, podcaster, and lifestyle guru. He became well-known through his ''4-Hour'' self-help book series—including ''The 4-Hour Work Week'', ''The 4-Hour Body'', and '' ...

' podcast. On September 11, Thiel answered questions for Ask Me Anything on

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

. On September 13, Thiel appeared on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

with host

Wade Goodwyn Wade William Goodwyn (January 12, 1960 – June 8, 2023) was an American journalist who was the national desk correspondent for National Public Radio. Goodwyn began his career in radio as a freelancer and began working for NPR in 1991. His cov ...

to discuss the book.

Reception

In ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', Derek Thomson describes Thiel's book as possibly the best business book he has ever read. In his review article, he wrote: "Peter Thiel's new book, ''Zero to One,'' shines like a laser beam. Yes, this is a self-help book for entrepreneurs, bursting with bromides and sunny confidence about the future that only start-ups can build. But much more than that, it's also a lucid and profound articulation of capitalism and success in the 21st century economy" and "it's surprising in a wonderful way just how simple ''Zero to One'' feels. Barely 200 pages long, and well lit by clear prose and pithy aphorisms, Thiel has written a perfectly tweetable treatise and a relentlessly thought-provoking handbook". ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' wrote of the book: "Thiel touches on how to build a successful business, but the discussion is too abstract to offer much to the next

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...

—or Peter Thiel." In November 2014, Timothy B. Lee reviewed the book for Vox.com, writing that although Thiel's book contained some good advice, he made the advice sound more contrarian than it really was, did not provide sufficiently concrete advice, and made some questionable claims. In ''The New Atlantis'', James Poulos compares Thiel to

Frederich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his care ...

and argues Thiel, "the most political and theoretical of the supernerds," writes esoterically in ''Zero to One'', when he "raises the prospect of a remarkably comprehensive failure among our best and brightest."

References

{{reflist, 30em 2014 non-fiction books Business books Books about companies Entrepreneurship Crown Publishing Group books