Peter ThielEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

Pastor and author C.R. Wiley joins David Knight to discuss his new book Man-Made: Saint Anthony's Guide to Surviving the AI Apocalypse — and his central warning is that cognitive atrophy is the slow kill. Money should have intrinsic value AND transactional privacy: Go to https://davidknight.gold/ for great deals on physical gold/silver For 10% off Gerald Celente's prescient Trends Journal, go to https://trendsjournal.com/ and enter the code “KNIGHT” For high quality made in America products go to HomeSteadProducts.shop and us...

Pastor and author C.R. Wiley joins David Knight to discuss his new book Man-Made: Saint Anthony's Guide to Surviving the AI Apocalypse — and his central warning is that cognitive atrophy is the slow kill. Money should have intrinsic value AND transactional privacy: Go to https://davidknight.gold/ for great deals on physical gold/silver For 10% off Gerald Celente's prescient Trends Journal, go to https://trendsjournal.com/ and enter the code “KNIGHT” For high quality made in America products go to HomeSteadProducts.shop and us...

Ep.230 ~ Peter Thiel REJECTS Sacrifice - Watch Him Debate Jordan Peterson ~ Jordan B Peterson

Ep.105 ~ Peter Thiel and Jordan Peterson, “This Shifts The Metagame Entirely” ~ Jordan B Peterson

While big tech companies fight to start a surveillance state, some people are retreating into open source software. Today we look at the root causes. #FOSS #linux #bigtech Full Peter Thiel Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV7YgnPUxcU 00:00 - Intro 02:56 - The Early Days 07:10 - The Rise of Big Tech 12:10 - The Current Shift 24:19 - Geopolitics 28:32 - Challenges for Switching to FOSS 32:45 - Fighting Back ----------- Support Switched to Linux! 👥 locals: https://switchedtolinux.locals.com 👕 Merch: https://shop.switchedtolinux.com<br...

Abstract ideas made definite. In this episode of Mere Mortals book reviews, I dive into Peter Thiel’s 'Zero To One' and why its big-picture thinking resonates more than tactical business how‑to. I explore Thiel’s blend of abstract philosophy and concrete startup stories (from PayPal to Palantir) and discuss his contrarian takes on competition, monopoly and the value of being the last mover. I unpack the optimistic vs pessimistic, determinate vs indeterminate lens Thiel uses to read cultures and markets and why these frames can guide founders to build something truly unique rather than drift into “zombie c...

In this episode of The Free Thought Project podcast, Matt Agorist and Jason Bassler sit down with legendary journalist, essayist, and transparency activist Barrett Brown. Renowned for his early investigations into the cyber-industrial complex and his work with the crowdsourced investigative wiki Project PM, Barrett became a prime target of the national security state following the 2012 Stratfor email leaks. He subsequently endured five years in federal prison, solitary confinement, and restrictive gag orders—a campaign of state retaliation that only solidified his status as an unbroken voice in the liberty movement. Returning to the show, Barrett brings his signature, un...

In this episode of The Free Thought Project podcast, Matt Agorist and Jason Bassler sit down with legendary journalist, essayist, and transparency activist Barrett Brown. Renowned for his early investigations into the cyber-industrial complex and his work with the crowdsourced investigative wiki Project PM, Barrett became a prime target of the national security state following the 2012 Stratfor email leaks. He subsequently endured five years in federal prison, solitary confinement, and restrictive gag orders—a campaign of state retaliation that only solidified his status as an unbroken voice in the liberty movement. Returning to the show, Barrett brings his signature, un...

In this, the second half of our conversation with Peter Thiel, the discussion delves into Thiel’s reflections on ancient prophecies, particularly the concept of the Antichrist as outlined in biblical and literary sources. Drawing from thinkers such as Cardinal Newman and fiction by Vladimir Solovyov and Robert Hugh Benson, Thiel explores how apocalyptic ideas remain relevant today, particularly in light of global challenges like technological risks, nuclear threats, and international governance. The conversation examines the tension between fears of Armageddon and the dangers of a one-world government, emphasizing Thiel’s call for critical thinking, balanced globalization, and the need to integrate historical and contemporary insights into a coherent framework for action. Recorded on October 8th, 2024 RELATED SOURCES Part I: Apocalypse Now? Peter Thiel on Ancient Prophecies and Modern Tech Peter Thiel, Leader Of The Rebel Alliance Make Ticker Tape Parades Great Again: A Conversation With Peter Thiel The World According To Thiel Peter Thiel On “The Straussian Moment”

Peter Thiel—the prominent tech entrepreneur and thinker—returns to Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson to discuss his views on the end times, technology, and societal progress. Thiel delves into the historical and philosophical context of apocalyptic thinking, referencing biblical texts and the work of René Girard. He argues that modern technological advancements, such as nuclear weapons and AI, have apocalyptic potential and should be taken seriously. Be sure to come back for part two of this conversation in which Thiel discusses the concept of the Antichrist. Recorded on October 8th, 2024 RELATED SOURCES Part II: Apocalypse Now? Peter Thiel on Ancient Prophecies and Modern Tech Peter Thiel, Leader Of The Rebel Alliance Make Ticker Tape Parades Great Again: A Conversation With Peter Thiel The World According To Thiel Peter Thiel On “The Straussian Moment”

In October of 2022, we released this episode on Peter Thiel. The last line of the story is that he’s a monster. At the time, we were focused on his personal selections and funding of Congressional candidates, one of whom was none other than JD Vance. Far from his purported hillbilly roots, the country quickly came to know that JD is little more than a huckster who grew up pretty well and became a go-to hedge fund guy for Peter Thiel. Amazingly, Thiel is still on the backburner of people’s awareness and given Vance’s sudden rise to VP prominence, it’s important we continue to bring him forward. -- I’m not a doctor. But even I can certainly see that Peter Thiel is a sick, sick person. Bright, awkward and successful, Peter Thiel has risen to prominence in American society on the gamble that he can break it. The product of an elitist system who wants to take it down. A gay man who backs candidates that would degrade his civil rights. A hedge fund tech investor who thinks Silicon Valley hasn’t done anything innovative in 50 years. A Trump backer and advisor who walked away when he got what he wanted. Peter Thiel is known as a contrarian, but it may be simpler than that. He might just be a nihilistic asshole. Chapters 2024 Update: 00:00:00 Intro: 00:01:18 Chapter One: So who the fuck is this guy? 00:05:21 Chapter Two: Where did all his money come from and can I have some? 00:14:26 Chapter Three: We’re all just pawns on Peter’s board 00:22:11 Chapter Four: Bring it home, Max. 00:33:11 Post Show Musings: 00:39:09 Outro: 00:46:56 Resources The Atlantic: Peter Thiel Hates a Copycat ProPublica: Lord of the Roths: How Tech Mogul Peter Thiel Turned a Retirement Account for the Middle Class Into a $5 Billion Tax-Free Piggy Bank Founders Fund: Portfolio The Intercept: How Peter Thiel’s Palantir Helped The Nsa Spy On The Whole World The Wall Street Journal: Tech Tycoon Peter Thiel Shies From Trump Re-Election Campaign SEC: Palantir Technologies Inc. Cato Unbound: The Education of a Libertarian The Intercept: The New New Right Was Forged in Greed and White Backlash Daily Beast: Blake Masters’ Views on Gay Marriage May Surprise His Political Master Peter Thiel Book Love Max Chafkin: The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on <a

Podcast : Conversations with Tyler Episode : Peter Thiel on Political Theology Release date : 2024-04-17 Get Podcast Transcript → powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarization In this conversation recorded live in Miami, Tyler and Peter Thiel dive deep into the complexities of political theology, including why it's a concept we still need today, why Peter's against Calvinism (and rationalism), whether the Old Testament should lead us to be woke, why Carl Schmitt is enjoying a resurgence, whether we're entering a new age of millenarian thought, the one existential risk Peter thinks we're overlooking, why everyone just muddling through leads to disaster, the role of the katechon, the political vision in Shakespeare, how AI will affect the influence of wordcels, Straussian messages in the Bible, what worries Peter about Miami, and more. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video . Recorded February 21st, 2024. Other ways to connect Follow us on X and Instagram Follow Tyler on X Follow Peter on X Sign up for our newsletter Join our Discord Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here .

Summary: 1. Peter Thiel discusses the deep causes and roots of intellectual, cultural, economic, and political trends as highlighted in his book "The Diversity Myth," a book about trends in academic thought. 2. He speaks about how ideas from campuses can spread to the larger society, with particular mention of how debates on core Western civilization classes at Stanford in the late 1980s presaged later cultural conflicts. 3. Thiel deconstructs the concept of diversity, indicating that the focus on identity politics distracts from more substantial issues such as economic class, creating a blind spot to issues like inequality and economic stagnation. 4. He presents a critical view of diversity administration in academia, comparing it to a form of crony capitalism and suggesting that cultural Marxism has replaced traditional Marxism, correlating with periods of economic decline. 5. Thiel's analysis of economics centers on the distortive effects of real estate markets, especially in major cities like London, and the exacerbating effect this can have on societal issues. He connects rising housing costs to emergent wokeness and political debates. 6. Thiel suggests that the sciences also face problems, arguing against the notion that they are healthy and have been progressing. He critiques various scientific fields as being stuck and mentions merit-based corruption and institutional stagnation. 7. Finally, Thiel explores the intersection of politics, culture, and metaphysics, suggesting that woke culture can be seen as a form of hyper-Christianity devoid of transcendence and forgiveness. He argues that political correctness has shifted over time and that central contemporary political debates are a distraction from deeper economic and sociopolitical issues. Key Questions and Answers: - What is the main argument of Peter Thiel's book "The Diversity Myth"? The book argues that the focus on diversity and identity politics within academia serves as a diversion from more substantial issues like economic inequality and class. Thiel suggests that by prioritizing identity, we overlook pressing concerns like the pivot from economic to cultural Marxism and the repercussions it has had on society. - How does Thiel connect real estate markets to the rise of wokeness? He posits that the artificially high property values and housing costs in major cities due to limited supply can lead to political and cultural radicalization. Thiel indicates that diversity debates and wokeness may also serve as distractions from the economic repressions inflicted by real estate dynamics. - What does Thiel say about the state of sciences today? He expresses concern that the sciences, despite popular belief, are not making significant progress. Thiel points out that many scientific fields are stuck in their theoretical frameworks, leading to a stagnation in innovation and technology – minus the progress that has been made in IT and the world of bits. - Why does Thiel use the term "political correctness" in his critique of contemporary culture? Thiel traces the evolution of "political correctness" from a term describing adherence to the communist party line to its modern usage as a pejorative by conservatives against liberal intolerance. He suggests that debates over political correctness distract from more significant underlying issues. Core Takeaway: The core problem described by Thiel is the pervasive distraction caused by debates on diversity, wokeness, and political correctness, which inhibit a deeper engagement with serious economic, scientific, and philosophical issues. The consequences of these distractions are a stagnation of meaningful progress in society and an entrenchment of systemic inequalities. The key new ideas presented to address the problem include: 1. Re

Podcast : Meeting of Minds Podcast Episode : Peter Thiel on the Bible Release date : 2021-05-17 Get Podcast Transcript → powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarization Peter Thiel, the highly successful tech entrepreneur and author, discusses his mentor Rene Girard; the Bible, how we read it, and how it reads us; Jesus’ death and resurrection; atheism; and the limitless escalation of violence towards apocalypse. Timestamps: 0:43 The Bible reads us 2:02 Cain and Abel vs. Romulus and Remus 6:05 Cross vs Resurrection 7:26 The Gospels are different from Death of Socrates 9:04 The Bible is discontinuous from pagan classics 11:30 "The idea that victims exist comes from Judeo-Christianity and nowhere else." 14:54 Was Nietzsche somehow extremely close to the truth of Christianity? 17:18 Pagan Pharmakoi, the ancient sacrificial medicine 19:48 Fascism and Communism 23:00 Girard on the Woes against the Pharisees 26:02 The cycle that leads to apocalypse 31:11 Steven Pinker and the story of progress 32:19 Is an apocalypse, such as a nuclear war, inevitable? 35:10 Being too sanguine about apocalypse makes it more likely 42:08 Is there an off-ramp? What would it look like? If we don't know, shouldn't we at least try to figure it out? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m not a doctor. But even I can certainly see that Peter Thiel is a sick, sick person. Bright, awkward and successful, Peter Thiel has risen to prominence in American society on the gamble that he can break it. A product of the Ivy League system who wants to take it down. A gay man who backs candidates that would degrade his civil rights. A hedge fund tech investor who thinks Silicon Valley hasn’t done anything innovative in 50 years. A Trump backer and advisor who walked away when he got what he wanted. Peter Thiel is known as a contrarian, but it may be simpler than that. He might just be a nihilistic asshole. Chapters Intro: 00:00:35 Chapter One: So who the fuck is this guy? 00:04:02 Chapter Two: Where did all his money come from and can I have some? 00:13:07 Chapter Three: We’re all just pawns on Peter’s board 00:20:53 Chapter Four: Bring it home, Max. 00:31:53 Post Show Musings: 00:37:51 Outro: 00:45:46 Resources The Atlantic: Peter Thiel Hates a Copycat ProPublica: Lord of the Roths: How Tech Mogul Peter Thiel Turned a Retirement Account for the Middle Class Into a $5 Billion Tax-Free Piggy Bank Founders Fund: Portfolio The Intercept: How Peter Thiel’s Palantir Helped The Nsa Spy On The Whole World The Wall Street Journal: Tech Tycoon Peter Thiel Shies From Trump Re-Election Campaign SEC: Palantir Technologies Inc. Cato Unbound: The Education of a Libertarian The Intercept: The New New Right Was Forged in Greed and White Backlash Daily Beast: Blake Masters’ Views on Gay Marriage May Surprise His Political Master Peter Thiel Book Love Max Chafkin: The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com . Join the Unf*cker-run Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/2051537518349565 Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com . Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox

Podcast : Meeting of Minds Podcast Episode : Peter Thiel: “The State Contains Violence” Release date : 2022-09-29 Get Podcast Transcript → powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarization Peter Thiel, arguably the most successful tech investor of modern times, also reads widely and thinks deeply about philosophy and theology. In a fascinating follow-up to his previous interview about his mentor, Rene Girard, Thiel discusses how modern ideologies such as fascism and communism "up the dose" from murder to genocide as Christianity weakened the power of human sacrifice. He also discusses how progressive ideologies are "stronger moves" than fascistic or reactionary ones because they weaponize Christianity's concern for victims. Thiel talks about how the state, with its origins in paganism, restrains violence by using violence and how Christians might navigate that dilemma by engaging politically but not becoming excessively entangled by it. Finally, Thiel points out how those who promise to protect us from Apocalypse can actually accelerate its coming. Timestamps: 01:08 Girard, Scapegoating 04:00 Mimetic copies: Hitler and Stalin, Nazism and Communism, Fascism 05:30 Wokeism, Christianity, and Academia 10:40 Wokeism in cities, response to real estate costs. Structural Wokeism 14:27 Winning and losing postures towards wokeism 17:10 Wokeism is Christianity without the forgiveness 18:30 Acknowledging sin even when it enables critics 21:55 Holocaust as the ultimate test of forgiveness, destroying the concept of forgiveness 25:52 Ignorance and forgiveness 27:55 Gospels as deconstruction of philosophy 32:05 Getting tangled in politics. Government and violence 33:55 Can leaders behave like Christians? 35:37 The katechon and accelerationism. Preterism and futurism. 39:10 The Antichrist as a false katechon 41:14 The Precautionary Principle: technological Armageddon 45:15 Enabling Fascism to fight Communism 46:12 Reagan coalition 49:30 Christianity and mimetic entanglement, political atheism 54:30 How much can people change? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Podcast : Socrates in the City Episode : Peter Thiel: Zero to One Release date : 2020-02-28 Get Podcast Transcript → powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarization Eric Metaxas interviews entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel on his bestselling book ZERO TO ONE. Using Apollo 11 and Woodstock as reference points, Thiel and Metaxas explore the idea that we live in an age of technological stagnation, and cover a range of topics — globalization, Greta Thunberg, academia, the worst of the cardinal sins, communion, and more. The interview took place in New York City, in January 2020. The post Peter Thiel: Zero to One first appeared on Socrates in the City .

Peter Thiel, the founder and original CEO of PayPal, the first outside investor in Facebook and a partner in the venture capital firm Founders Fund, offers his original perspective on entrepreneurship, investing, future profits and the VC “Power Law.” His illuminating essays began as lectures for his famous class on start-ups at Stanford University. Thiel contends that doing what’s already been done takes you on a journey to nowhere – from “1 to n,” or zero. But when you make something new – a business, a product or a work of art – Thiel believes you travel from “0 to 1.” Globalization is an example of horizontal progress; technology is an example of vertical progress. Peter Thiel is convinced that the strategy common wisdom regards as the smartest way to do business is, instead, the surest route to failure. To innovate, Thiel urges you to shun the usual formulaic solutions. Success comes from finding or inventing the road never taken and taking it. This is true, he says, even though creating something new in established organizations is difficult, and creating something new by yourself is even more so. Thiel says progress takes two forms: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal progress duplicates or create iterations of something that is already successful. Globalization is practically the definition of horizontal progress: it does the same tasks in a new location. In comparison, vertical progress makes something new. Technological advances often demonstrate vertical progress. Globalization and technology can exist at the same time, Thiel notes, or dominate markets separately. The era from 1815 to 1914 experienced both. But from the end of World War I to 1971 – when Henry Kissinger’s visit opened China to trade with the West – globalization was scant, but technological progress boomed. Today, as globalization threatens to deplete the world’s resources, Thiel believes that technology has become increasingly crucial. Widely revered lessons from the 2000 dot-com collapse are fallacious. Thiel may raise eyebrows with his position that the collapse of the dot-com bubble in 2000 generated four fallacious axioms among investors and entrepreneurs. These assumptions, Thiel makes clear, still dominate Silicon Valley thinking, even though they are incorrect. Here’s the outdated dogma – and his take on a better idea: “Make incremental advances” –Hubris caused the dot-com bubble and almost sank Silicon Valley. Anyone who promises grand success is a charlatan or delusional. Keep your head down, and take one step at a time. Wrong. Instead of falling for this myth, risk being bold. “Stay lean and flexible” – To move with changing events, avoid strategic planning. You should “iterate,” experiment and shift your goals as events suggest. No, don’t do that: you need a plan, of course. Thiel states with conviction that a “bad plan is better than no plan.” “Improve on the competition” –To take clients from existing firms, offer an improved version of something they already know and like. Don’t attempt to invent an original offering or market. Today, when “competitive markets destroy profits,” that’s the wrong approach. “Focus on products, not sales” – Technology is for making offerings, not selling them. Distribution is secondary to developing products. Like these other bad ideas, this is axiomatic among start-ups. Wise entrepreneurs know better: Sales, Thiel says, are as important as products. Every successful business is a monopoly. Thiel views Google as a unique monopoly. Because it essentially has no competition in the world of search and search-driven advertising, it can devote energy and money to its offerings and how its impact on the world. Google is a “new monopoly.” It doesn’t crush innovation as old monopolies did because, secure in its position, Google can innovate all it likes. For Thiel, Google exemplifies his repeated insight that truly successful businesses become monopolies. A Google-style monopoly can carry out innovation that benefits consumers and insures its own long-term profitability. Thiel suggests that too much competition – or competition that is too intense – means that just competing, by itself, will consume likely profits and leave each rival winning a market share that is too small to sustain it or to change consumer’s lives. The more competition in a field, the less profit. Thiel may surprise readers when he states that competing eats profits, so acquiring or merging with your rival beats fighting. America’s love affair with competition is not good for business or education. Thiel is almost strident when he insists that propaganda about the value of competition corrupts Americans from childhood. As students compete increasingly for available slots in higher education, Thiel asserts that the mantra of competition turns them into “conformists.” Neither Microsoft nor Google benefited from years of brutal competition. As they battled, they lost focus on their markets. Apple’s resurgence left both companies in the dust. Thiel’s company launched PayPal in 1999. Elon Musk’s X.com soon followed. The two spent time and energy fighting one another. In early 2000, Thiel and Musk came to understand that they faced a larger foe: the coming dot-com meltdown. They met in a coffee shop – not in one another’s offices, Thiel emphasizes – and worked out an even merger. Thiel writes with pride about how they rode out the bubble’s crash together by combining resources, and they thrived. Avoid disruption and consider whether your company can be a monopoly. Why is Twitter valued at 12 times TheNew York Times’ capitalization? Thiel says it’s because investors prioritize future cash flows. Any business’s value is the total revenue it will garner “in the future.” A successful newspaper, for instance, will hold to a certain cash flow for five or six years. Tech companies will lose money at first, but are likely to earn big a decade later. Thiel cites, for example, how LinkedIn’s future cash flows will dwarf those of today. A firm with stellar future cash flows must be a monopoly, like Google. Thiel offers these characteristics of monopoly for you to consider as you analyze your company: “Proprietary technology” – This, Thiel maintains, is the most significant advantage. As Google’s search capability proves, true proprietary technology has a ten-fold lead over any competitors. To gain this advantage, create something new. Or, as PayPal and Amazon did, perform one crucial task exponentially better than anyone else. “Network effects” –These assets increase your product’s utility as its numbers of users increase. For example, the more people who join Facebook, the more benefit belonging to Facebook brings you. “Economies of scale” – Monopolies grow stronger as they get larger because, Thiel says, greater sales mean fixed costs have less impact on the bottom line. Twitter, for one, was ready to scale up from its inception. It doesn’t need to reshape its product to gain more users. Conversely, a service business, like a yoga studio, faces myriad obstacles to growing in scale. “Branding” – A powerful brand can bring a company a monopoly. Take Apple, which has a monopoly. Others might try to copy it, but only Apple epitomizes technological progress. However, focusing on branding alone will not generate a monopoly. When Steve Jobs regained command of Apple, he also ditched many non-performing products to focus on those that brought “10X” improvements. Thiel offers profound advice in stark, bite-sized chunks: start small in a field you can monopolize. Consider taking over a small market. Find a community that isn’t served by a likely competitor. Don’t try to “disrupt” established companies. Eschew competition. The “Power Law” emerges when you “follow the money.” Thiel breaks down the venture capital (VC) world so every reader can understand. Venture capitalists, he writes, seek to spot, invest in and make big money on “early-stage” companies. Venture funds profit when the firms they invest in become worth much more or a large company buys them. Most early-stage firms don’t succeed. These companies align with a Power Law that says only a few will thrive. As a corollary of the Power Law, Thiel brings the fascinating insight that investors seeking a diverse portfolio will fail to put as much money into likely winners as they should. Facebook manifests the Power Law. Thiel’s Founders Fund earned more from investing in Facebook than from all its other investments combined. He says the Founders Fund follows two hard-learned rules: 1) Only put money into firms with the chance to “return the value of the entire fund,” and 2) There are no other rules. Invest only in companies with a likely chance for “success on a vast scale. Thiel recommends applying the Power Law to your life. According to the Law, starting your own company may not be the most profitable choice. You may earn much more by joining a profitable, rising company. The Law reveals that differences within a firm are nothing compared to the differences “between companies.” And the Law, Thiel points out, shapes sound start-up strategy: Just as one company is likely to outperform all others exponentially, certain markets will do the same. Seek a market with the same diligence you apply to seeking an investment. Beginnings shape the life of a company or partnership. Friends of the author named one of his maxims “Thiel’s law.” It holds that a start-up built on dysfunctional foundations will never be put right. Start-ups, Thiel cautions, depend on their founding partners. Picking a co-founder is like choosing a spouse, and when founders fight, they kick up all the dreadfulness of a divorce. Yet, almost no one can effectively run a start-up alone. To ensure a smoother beginning and ending, Thiel insists you must sort out these ideas: “Ownership” – Determine who has “legal” ownership of the firm’s “equity.” “Possession” – Decide who is in charge. “Control” – Designate who has “formal” governance over the firm. Thiel provides clear, workable definitions: Usually, “founders, employees and investors” own a company, while the managers and staff members who run it have possession. And the board of directors – made up of founders and investors – has control. Spreading these responsibilities among the right people increases functionality, but it also raises the chances of destructive “misalignment.” In the beginning, Thiel clarifies, everyone should work full-time and just for the company. Having an involved party who lacks stock options or a salary can fuel misalignment. Outside people will have priorities that don’t align with your firm’s priorities. Other than possibly needing attorneys or accountants, avoid outside consultants or part-time workers. Thiel recognizes the virtue of paying good people what they’re worth, while remembering one immutable rule: The less a firm pays its CEO, the better it performs. Never pay a VC-funded start-up’s CEO more than $150,000 a year. An underpaid CEO will do everything possible to increase “the value of the company,” not just his or her salary. Given that Thiel showed the world just how high the ceiling can go on VC profit, it’s amusing to read him put a relatively low and perhaps outdated ceiling on CEO pay. Start-ups offer something worth more than a paycheck: partial corporate ownership. Thiel counsels you to share ownership with care. Don’t give everyone the same number of shares. Each person has different tasks and abilities. Counterintuitively, equality is and will appear inequitable. Another inequity is that first employees receive more equity, but later workers may add more value. The artist who painted Facebook’s walls in the early days received stock later valued at $200 million. An indispensable engineer Facebook hired in 2010 might make $2 million. Because of inevitable unfairness, always keep compensation a secret. Any employee who prefers equity over a larger salary, Thiel feels, is vesting in your firm for the long haul. His or her interests align with yours: increasing the company’s worth. Recruiting is crucial to success; never outsource recruiting. No one, Thiel posits, understands your start-up as well as you do. No one else can best judge the right people for it. The best people can work anywhere, so ask why they want to work for you. The best people will give the best answers, which will pertain to your mission or your people. Don’t compete on perks. People should come to you, Thiel makes plain, for the work they will do. That’s it. Start-ups change constantly. Jobs will change constantly. Give each person a specific area of responsibility no one else shares. That, Thiel argues, makes it easy to judge someone’s performance and motivation. Even the best product needs superb distribution. Thiel dissects your “Customer Lifetime Value” (CLV), the total average profit gained from one customer. Thus, your “Customer Acquisition Cost” (CAC) – what you spend to gain a customer – must never exceed your CLV. The more your product costs, Thiel notes, the higher your CAC. If your product costs as much as, for example, Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket service, you will spend a lot of time and money finding, cultivating and selling to customers. At that level, you won’t have salespeople. Your executives will talk directly with your potential customers’ executives. At start-ups, everyone sells. As CEO, if you don’t have anyone fulfilling that role, the salesperson is you. Establish procedures that enable your small sales team to get your product to the largest possible market. Facebook and PayPal grew at lightning speed because their “core” functions drew investors to urge their friends to join. Both companies gained monopoly status by achieving what Thiel regards as a crucial position: the “last movers” in their markets. Tesla correctly handled every aspect of starting up. Wise companies will consider how they performed in each of these crucial areas. Thiel finds that Tesla mastered them all: “Technology” – Tesla created such superior technology that other car companies either license it or try to copy. “Timing” – The government was offering subsidies to green businesses. Many businesspeople thought these payouts would endure, but Musk understood the need to move quickly. The US Department of Energy loaned Tesla $465 million in January 2010. Thiel knows that a subsidy that size could never – and didn’t ever – happen again. “Monopoly” – Tesla’s first product ruled a small niche: electric sports cars. Fully 3,000 drivers bought one, at $109,000 each, providing astonishing cash flow. Having only one product let Tesla focus on R&D for its next car, the Model S, which helped it own the upscale electric sedan market. “Team” – Theil admires Musk as a superb engineer and salesman. He created a team of people determined to be the best and taught them the level of excellence Tesla would demand. “Distribution” – Tesla constructed its own distribution chain, with no separate dealers or service personnel. This incurred enormous start-up costs, but now Tesla absolutely controls its customer and brand experience. “Durability” – Tesla gained a huge lead on potential rivals and gained its long-term market advantage. Its charismatic founder is still CEO, and he has an unmatched sense of mission. “Secrets” – Thiel never hesitates to give credit where it’s due. He credits Elon Musk with a rare insight. Musk understood that the secret of the appeal of electric cars revolved around status and exclusivity more than any desire to drive “green.” Faust, Bob Dylan, The Unabomber and Profits Not every world-changing entrepreneurial investor quotes Faust, Bob Dylan and the Unabomber in one book. Peter Thiel does. The author is a difficult man, famous for his feuds with the media and his inability to suffer those he regards as fools. Thankfully, Thiel foments no grudges and tries to settle no scores in his handy, pithy and unsentimental manual for building and holding onto profits in today’s often bewildering financial universe. Thiel breaks the VC and investment worlds down to specific principles and repeats and repeats that anyone pursuing those principles will prevail. Though Thiel does not shy away from the first person, the reader comes away with surprisingly little insight into his personality. Accordingly, while his prose is pedestrian, Thiel’s ideas are likely revelatory for CEOs, investors, entrepreneurs and business students. About the Authors Peter Thiel, the founder and original CEO of PayPal, was the first outside investor in Facebook and is a partner in the Founders Fund. Subscribe at microabstract.substack.com

Business Strategy and Monopoly Theory Peter Thiel, founder of Paypal and Palantir, discusses business strategy and monopoly theory in "Competition is For Losers". Lecture Transcript: tech.genius.com/Peter-thiel-lecture-5-business-strategy-and-monopoly-theory-annotated See the slides and readings at startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec05/ Discuss this lecture: startupclass.co/courses/how-to-start-a-startup/lectures/64034 Click to view: show page on Awesound