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Reading Notes: Zero to One

Author:  Peter Thiel / Blake Masters

Format: Audible

Subject:  Entrepreneurship

Rating: 10/10

Summary:

Zero to One is easily the most interesting book that I have read in the past several years.  And, that is saying a lot since I was initially very skeptical about including it on my reading list.  The book held my attention from beginning to end.  Thiel’s covers a variety of topics that are designed to get the reader thinking.  At its core, Zero to One, is essentially a book of ideas.  And many of those ideas challenge the status quo.

Blake Masters narrated the Audible version of the book.  His dictation style has a nice flow to it.  Other narrators could learn a thing or two from him.

Zero to One vs Zero to N:

  • Zero to One: is vertical progress. New technologies. It creates something where nothing existed before.
  • Zero to N: is horizontal progress. It is the act of iterating over existing technology.

Thiel’s Core Beliefs:

  • Globalization is doomed without technological innovation
  • Capitalism is the opposite of competition
  • We can shape our core future

Lessons Learned from Dot.com Bubble vs Thiel’s Viewpoint:

Lessons Learned?

Creating a Monopoly:

  • Must be a order of magnitude better than the next option (10x)
  • Target a small group of particular people concentrated together and served by few or no competitors
  • Once you dominate the niche market then expand to adjacent markets
  • Don’t disrupt
  • Avoid first mover advantage; target making the last great development in a specific market and reap the rewards of a mature ecosystem.
  • Founders should know each other very well before starting the company.
  • Everyone should work in the same physical space. (No telecommuting.)
  • Everyone should be a full-time employee.
  • Lower CEO pay increases the chances for the start-up to succeed.
  • Advertising Works

Maintaining a Monopoly:

  • Create Network Effects: the more people using your product, the greater the network effects are.
  • Economy of Scale: Lowers production and distribution costs
  • Branding: Increases awareness.

Theil’s Seven Questions All Businesses Should Answer:

  1. Engineering – Can you create a breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements?
  2. Timing – is now the right time to start your particular business?
  3. Monopoly – are you starting with a big share of a small market?
  4. People – Do you have the right team?
  5. Distribution – Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your product?
  6. Durability – Will your market position be defensible ten or twenty years into the future?
  7. Secret – have you identified a unique opportunity that others don’t see?

Sales people compared to their products:

  • Advertising -> Account Executive
  • Customers -> Business Developer
  • Companies -> Investment Bankers
  • Yourself -> Politicians.

Theil’s Favorite Interview Question:

“What important truth do very few people agree with you on?”

  • Causes people to reflect on self-created knowledge.
  • To become socially unpopular by taking a different stance.
  • Rationale: brilliant thinking is rare but courage is in even shorter supply than genius.

Other Ideas:

  • Entrepreneurs should create monopolies
  • Competition lowers price and eliminates profit.
  • Capitalism generates profit.
  • Even a bad plan is better than no plan.
  • School and College prepares you to be average at a lot of things.       And an expert at nothing.
  • Success is not a matter of luck.
  • If you cannot beat your rival it may be better to merge with them (Paypal: Thiel and x.com: Musk)
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Reading Notes: The Catcher in the Rye

Author:  JD Salinger

Format: Hardback

Subject:  Coming of Age

Rating: 6/10

Summary:

The Catcher in the Rye is a well known American classic.  I am quite sure this book was assigned reading at some point during my high school education.  However, I never got around to reading it until now.  I found the method of storytelling to be pretty difficult to read.  The protagonist, Holden, generally rambled and skipped from topic to topic at random.  Also, the overall plot is pretty thin.  However, the book is loaded with symbolism, so I  understand why so many book lovers and academics love it.

I tolerated the novel as opposed to loving it.  And, the thin plot and ending are quite anti-climatic.  To be fair, I read this book in my late thirties as opposed to reading it in high school.  But, I doubt I would have enjoyed this book much more if I had read it when I was sixteen years old.  Having said that, I am certainly happy I have read it and have a better understanding of “what all the fuss was about.”

Favorite Quotes:

“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.”  Holden

“If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she’s late?”  Holden

“I don’t exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it.”  Holden

“If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub out even half the ‘Fuck You’ signs in the world. It’s impossible.”  Holden

“The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.”  Mr. Antolini

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Reading Notes: The One Minute Manager

One Minute Manager Management Philosophy
One Minute Management Philosophy

Authors:  Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

Format: Audible

Subject:  Management

Rating: 9/10

Summary:

It took me far to long to get around to reading this gem of a book.  Its written in a narrative format and does an excellent job of both telling and showing the “Minute Manager” philosophy.  The focus of the book is coaching the team to grow and perform at their best.  The philosophy consists of three key parts:  One Minute Goal Setting, One Minute Praisings, and One Minute Reprimands.

One Minute Goal Setting serves as the foundation for One Minute Management and the authors rely heavily on the Pareto Principle, that 80% of the results come from 20% of your goals.  The One Minute Goal Setting Process is outlined below:

  1.  Agree on the specifics of the goal.
  2. Define what success looks like.
  3. Write out the goals on a single sheet of paper.
  4. Re-read each goal regularly, which should only take a minute per goal.
  5. Set aside a minute several times per day to review your actions and verify they align with your goal.
  6. Tell people that you will provide feedback about how they are doing.

One Minute Praisings This is the second tool in the One Minute Manager’s toolkit.  The idea is to build positive reinforcement when somebody is caught doing something right.  When people feel good about themselves, they produce good results.  Here are the steps for a One Minute Praising:

  1. Praise people immediately, be specific about what they are doing right, how good it makes you feel about what they did right, and how its helps the organization.
  2. Pause for a moment to allow them to reflect.
  3. Encourage them to continue the behavior, and give them a pat on the back.

One Minute Reprimands  This is the final piece in the One Minute Manager’s arsenal.  The purpose of the reprimand is to keep the person and lose the behavior.  It is the counterpart of the One Minute Praising, and it consists of two parts:

Part 1

  1. Reprimand people immediately.
  2. Be specific about the behaviors they did wrong, tell them how it makes you feel.  Focus the reprimand on their behaviors, not the individual.
  3. Pause for a few seconds and let them fell how you feel.

Part 2

  1. Shake hands and re-ensure them that you are on their side.
  2. Remind them how much you value them, but not their performance in this situation.

Aha Moment:

When it comes to getting the most of their team, companies have three options:

1) Hire All-Stars (very expensive and difficult)

2) Hire somebody with potential and then train them up

3) pray.

Favorite One Minute Manager Quotes:

“I care about people and results. They go hand in hand.”

“if you can’t tell me what you’d like to be happening, you don’t have a problem yet. You’re just complaining.”

“A problem only exists if there is a difference between what is actually happening and what you desire to be happening.”

“Take A Minute: Look At Your Goals, Look At Your Performance. See If Your Behavior Matches Your Goals.”

“If you are first tough on the behavior, then then supportive of the person, it works.”