A summary of things you should know about Zero To One according to Blake Masters: Introduction In this episode Blake Masters shares his book, Zero To One, where he andRead More
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]]>In this episode Blake Masters shares his book, Zero To One, where he and Peter Thiel reveal the strategy, secrets, and truth to find success that goes above and beyond.
In his book, Masters provides you with the insights of how Peter Thiel became so successful with his ventures such as PayPal. One of the core themes in the book is the distinction between competition and a business monopoly. Both Thiel and Masters believe that success is found in the absolute differentiation of one business to another and they pave the way for you follow the same suite.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who have an original idea and are seeking absolute command of a niche where competition does not exist.
We wanted to show clearly and forcefully what Peter knows about business and you can’t get this information form anywhere else.
You can read it front to back or read it as a resource and jump around.
I would tell people not to compete but rather do something unique.
In the first chapter we start by explaining what the title means. Zero to One is about doing new things, going from nothing and creating something where nothing existed before.
In chapter two we take a close look at the .com boom and bust of the 90’s which we think is how everybody today continues to think about business.
One of the core themes in the book is the distinction between competition and monopoly. Americans love competition and it’s become sort of like a secular religion but the message we portray in the book is that competition is not what you want to be focused on when you’re building a business. We think successful business is all about differentiation and differentiation at large is really monopoly.
About halfway, chapter six is called You Are Not a Lottery Ticket. This is a meditation on chance and luck and how far we’ve gravitated as a society towards explaining things purely in those terms. In America we are optimistic and chapter six is our call to reclaiming a definite attitude where we don’t just assume things are going to get better but we know that if you plan where you want to go then maybe you can actually get there.
We have a whole chapter on secrets which are our answers to what Peter calls his contrarian question, what very important truth do few people agree with you on. This seems like a very easy question but actually it’s really hard to answer. If you have the question you have to not only think out of the box but also have to be brave enough to tell someone that. Any truth about your business that no one else in your business knows we prefer to call that a secret because there is something about the terminology that captures people’s attention and makes them wonder.
In another chapter we talk about how to sell a product. Silicon Valley tends to be overweight product and underweight sales even though sales are just as important as the product. If you have a good product but not a good way to distribute it then you actually don’t have a good product. We make the claim that it is best to take distribution seriously and think of it as part of your product.
Chapter 12 is about computers and humans and how they relate to each other both now and in the future. We think that humans and computers are so different that they are mostly complimentary. We also think that the most valuable businesses in the coming years will be the ones who understand and leverage the complimentary nature of machines and humans.
Chapter 13 is a recap of the book formulated in seven questions that every startup has to get right.
We end the book with a chapter about founders and entrepreneurs. It’s important for founders to understand the position that they are in so that they can be affective.
“The smartphones that distract us from our surroundings also distract us from the fact that our surroundings are strangely old.” – Blake Masters
I live out in San Francisco with my wife and 4 month year old baby. I am the co-founded of a legal research technology startup called Judicata. Prior to that I was at law school at Stanford and worked as an early sales person at Box.
The book is based on a class that Peter Thiel taught at Stanford in 2012 call CS 183 Startup. Peter’s goal in teaching the class was to tell his students everything he knew about business. I took really good class notes and put them online and then they ended up getting read by hundreds of thousands of people and became basic required reading in Silicon Valley.
The Age of the Moguls by Stewart H. Holbrook
Buy Zero To One by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters on Amazon today
Visit ZeroToOneBook.com to learn more about Blake’s book
Visit BlakeMasters.com to learn more about Blake and his notes on Peter Thiel’s class
Follow Blake Masters on Twitter and Facebook
Download the full transcript here
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books: All In Startup by Diana Kander | Exponential Organizations by Salim Ismail | The Art of War for Small Business by Becky Sheetz-Runkle
Relevant advice and tips: 5 Important Things That Every Entrepreneur Needs To Know About Starting a New Business
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]]>A summary of things you should know about The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur according to Mike Michalowicz: Introduction In this episode Mike Michalowicz shares his book, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur whereRead More
The post A Preview of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur with Mike Michalowicz appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>In this episode Mike Michalowicz shares his book, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur where he gives you the business tools to get ready for building a business and the kick in the behind to get started.
In his book, Michalowicz provides his perception on what entrepreneurship is and how you can navigate starting and building a business when you have no resources. The difference between this book and others like it is Michalowicz connects entrepreneurship to the bathroom experience when we find a way to survive on a very small amount of toilet paper.
This book is perfect for the aspiring entrepreneur who needs the tools to startup when they don’t have money and for the established entrepreneur in need of realigning their business.
I think it’s the analogy I use. I have to argue that the content that I talk about has been addressed by others in different ways so for a book to be fresh it just has to be a new spin. In Toilet Paper Entrepreneur I connected entrepreneurship to the bathroom experience. If you are every stuck in the bathroom with three sheets of toilet paper we find a way to survive it on just three sheets. It’s all about leveraging the fact that what you have is enough.
All the books I write build on the prior concept so this isn’t a jump in jump out, it’s a read through and at the end of every chapter I give specific actionable steps.
Resources are perhaps your biggest asset. When we have resources then the path we want to take becomes the doable path, conversely when you have no resources the obvious may not be doable and therefore it forces you to think of alternatives. And that’s where innovation comes from, when you can’t follow the obvious you have to break that rules.
I broke Toilet Paper Entrepreneur down into three different segments which are belief, focus and action.
The first part of the book is about the mental game of entrepreneurship, a big part that is not normally talked about. A lot of different resources talk about the strategies of entrepreneurship and they definitely apply but the big question first is to make sure your mind is behind it. The first chapter is titled Natures Calling and what I mean by this title is simply what you feel naturally compelled to do. A lot of people know there passion but I am taking one step further in this chapter and talking about what your purpose is. Passion is something you love to do and purpose is the reason behind why you are doing what you are doing.
The second chapter I call A Little Piece and Quiet in your mind and what I talk about in this chapter is the power of beliefs. Beliefs can either be a wall or channel. We are all wired in our minds to prove ourselves right. If you say you can’t get something done, it’s in your best mental interest to not get it done. And if you say to yourself that you will get it done, you will find a way to get it done. Our beliefs can be channeling where they can move us towards an accomplishment or they can be a wall. When it comes to entrepreneurship we have to investigate what the internal conversation is going on in our heads and then convert it into a channel. A channel will get us to our vision; a wall will prevent us from getting there.
The third chapter I talk about the fire in your belly which is the Why. When you know what your purpose is in your business and how it connects with you, you will know why you are doing it and that keeps driving you forward. I totally believe that the foundational component of entrepreneurship that so many people miss is the mental game.
In the next couple of chapters I talk about getting down to the actual execution of your ideas. One strategy that I talk about and strongly suggest is a strategy called tacking. Tacking comes from an analogy/strategy used by sailors. Tacking is where you identify the place you’re going but how you get there might not be straight on. It is about avoiding the obstacles’, leveraging yourself and redirecting your steps but ultimately you will get to your destination.
The final section of Toilet Paper Entrepreneur is the Action section. One of the biggest actions that entrepreneurs can take is to have the discipline of saying no. There are numerous stories and strategies that I share in this section pertaining to this issue. I talk about how to burn the boats in your business so that there is no plan B, it’s all about plan A, and you execute it until it works.
I wrap up with talking about money and equity which is an extremely important component. I talk about how to grow a business when you don’t have money and those resources. I show you how to extract some money when you don’t have traditional financing in place.
I believe The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur gives an aspiring entrepreneur all the tools to get ready and the big kick in the ass to get started. And I think for established entrepreneurs it realigns them with where they are and with their relationship of their business.
“Successful businesses don’t get richer quick, they get rich right.” – Mike Michalowcz
I am an author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, The Pumpkin Plan and Profit First. Prior to becoming an author I was a fulltime entrepreneur growing a couple companies and today the forefront of my activities is writing books and talking about them.
I wanted to challenge all the academic reads that were out there. I believe there are a lot of great content books but most of the books I was reading about business you have to bore your way through it. And so I decided to write my perception of what entrepreneurship is and how you can navigate starting and building a business when you have no resources.
Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
Buy The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Michalowicz on Amazon today
Visit ToiletPaperEntrepreneur.com to learn about the book and download the first chapters
Visit MikeMichalowicz.com to learn more about Mike and all of his books
Follow Mike Michalowicz on Twitter and Facebook
Download the full transcript here
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books: The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field by Mike Michalowicz | Profit First: A Simple System to Transform Any Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz | The Entrepreneur Mind: 100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs by Kevin D. Johnson
Relevant advice and tips: 7 Unique Styles Of Entrepreneurs | 5 Personal Qualities That Make Up a Lifestyle Entrepreneur
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
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