A THREAD on key takeaways from The Tim Ferris (@tferriss) Show Episode #28 with Peter Thiel (@peterthiel):
1/
Q. What did you want to achieve by writing Zero to One?
"Most business books take a 30 page essay and expand it into 300 pages of writing. I tried to do the...
1/
Q. What did you want to achieve by writing Zero to One?
"Most business books take a 30 page essay and expand it into 300 pages of writing. I tried to do the...
...opposite with Zero to One. I tried to take everything I’ve learned in the last 15 years & distill it into 200 disciplined pages so that you can read it in one afternoon. Writing this book helped me organize and advance my thinking tremendously."
2/
Q. What do you think the future of education looks like?
"I don’t like the word education because it is such an extraordinary abstraction. I’m very much in favor of learning. I’m much more skeptical of credentialing or the...
Q. What do you think the future of education looks like?
"I don’t like the word education because it is such an extraordinary abstraction. I’m very much in favor of learning. I’m much more skeptical of credentialing or the...
...abstraction called education. So there are all of these granular questions like what is it that we’re learning. Why are you learning it? Is it an investment decision where you’re investing in your future? Is it insurance? Or is it a tournament where you’re just...
...beating other people? I think the big tract institutions are delivering less and less and charging more and more. One of my friends suggested that we were at a point in education that’s like the place where the Catholic Church was on the eve of the reformation."
3/
Q. You studied philosophy as an undergraduate. What does philosophy have to do with business? And how has your study of philosophy helped you in your investing & career today?
"The fundamental philosophical question is one that’s important for all of us. And it’s always...
Q. You studied philosophy as an undergraduate. What does philosophy have to do with business? And how has your study of philosophy helped you in your investing & career today?
"The fundamental philosophical question is one that’s important for all of us. And it’s always...
...this question of what do people agree merely by convention, and what is the truth? We never want to let a convention be a short cut for truth. I think this question of trying to think for yourself, trying to break through convention is always important."
4/
Q. What do you believe that very few others do?
"Whereas most people believe that capitalism and competition are synonyms, I think they’re antonyms. In a world of corporate competition, all of the capital is competed away."
Q. What do you believe that very few others do?
"Whereas most people believe that capitalism and competition are synonyms, I think they’re antonyms. In a world of corporate competition, all of the capital is competed away."
5/
Q. What do you wish you had known about business 20 years ago?
"Not until I really started Paypal did I fully realize that you don’t have to wait to start something. So if you’re planning to do something with your life, if you have a 10 year plan of how to get...
Q. What do you wish you had known about business 20 years ago?
"Not until I really started Paypal did I fully realize that you don’t have to wait to start something. So if you’re planning to do something with your life, if you have a 10 year plan of how to get...
... there, you should ask: why can’t you do this in 6 months? Sometimes, you have to actually go through the complex, 10-year trajectory. But it’s at least worth asking whether that’s the story you’re telling yourself or whether that’s the reality."
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Q. How important is failure in business?
"I think failure is massively overrated. Most businesses fail for more than one reason. You will think it failed for Reason 1, but it failed for Reasons 1 through 5. And so the next business you start will fail for...
Q. How important is failure in business?
"I think failure is massively overrated. Most businesses fail for more than one reason. You will think it failed for Reason 1, but it failed for Reasons 1 through 5. And so the next business you start will fail for...
...Reason 2, and then for 3 and so on. And so I think people actually do not learn very much from failure."
7/
Q. Where do you see bitcoin going or not going in the future?
"People are speculating in bitcoin as a store of value. But they’re not yet using bitcoin to transact. For bitcoin to really succeed, I think it will have to be not just a currency but also a payment system."
Q. Where do you see bitcoin going or not going in the future?
"People are speculating in bitcoin as a store of value. But they’re not yet using bitcoin to transact. For bitcoin to really succeed, I think it will have to be not just a currency but also a payment system."
8/
Q. What would you say to the 9.7 million unemployed people in America?
"On a micro answer, I don’t think there’s any sort of one size fits all approach. The macro answer though that I think is critical is that we need to find a way for there to be just more growth in our...
Q. What would you say to the 9.7 million unemployed people in America?
"On a micro answer, I don’t think there’s any sort of one size fits all approach. The macro answer though that I think is critical is that we need to find a way for there to be just more growth in our...
... overall economy. It’s my view that technology is the key driver for growth. And, therefore, anything we can do to accelerate technological progress & technological innovation will increase growth &, ultimately, will increase opportunities for people throughout our society."
9/
Q. What are your daily habits and routines?
"One thing that I try to do every day is to have a conversation with some of the smartest people I know and continue to develop my thinking. And it’s often people with whom I’ve had conversations for a long time."
Q. What are your daily habits and routines?
"One thing that I try to do every day is to have a conversation with some of the smartest people I know and continue to develop my thinking. And it’s often people with whom I’ve had conversations for a long time."
10/
Q. What one thing would you most like to change about yourself or improve on?
"When I look back on my younger self, I was insanely tracked, & competitive. I’ve become, I think, much more self aware over the years about the problematic nature of a lot of the competition."
Q. What one thing would you most like to change about yourself or improve on?
"When I look back on my younger self, I was insanely tracked, & competitive. I’ve become, I think, much more self aware over the years about the problematic nature of a lot of the competition."
