Zero to One
| Company type | Publication |
|---|---|
| Industry | Business literature |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Peter Thiel, Blake Masters |
| Products | Book |
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future is a 2014 publication authored by American entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel, with co-authorship by Blake Masters. The book is a refined and expanded version of widely circulated online notes that Masters compiled during Thiel's Spring 2012 CS183 startup course at Stanford University.
Promotion
To market the book, Peter Thiel posted his inaugural and sole tweet on September 8, 2014, and gave an interview to Alexia Tsotsis of TechCrunch. The following day, September 9, he appeared as a guest on Timothy Ferriss' podcast. On September 11, Thiel engaged in a Reddit Ask Me Anything session where he responded to inquiries related to entrepreneurship and technology.
On September 13, Thiel featured in a discussion about the book on NPR with host Wade Goodwyn.
Reception
In an article for The Atlantic, Derek Thompson commended Zero to One as potentially the finest business book he has encountered, describing it as "a clear and insightful exploration of capitalism and achievement in the modern economy." He praised its succinct and lucid writing style alongside its stimulating ideas, considering it both a practical guide for entrepreneurs and an important philosophical work on future creation.
Publishers Weekly remarked that although Thiel addresses strategies for building successful companies, the text tends to remain too theoretical to provide actionable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs aiming to be the next Steve Jobs.
Timothy B. Lee of Vox.com recognized some useful recommendations but criticized the book for repackaging conventional ideas as contrarian and lacking detailed, practical guidance.
In The New Atlantis, James Poulos likened Thiel to Friedrich Nietzsche, calling him "the most political and theoretical among the supernerds," who cautions about a widespread failure of elite talent in Zero to One.