Peter Thiel: Successful Businesses are Based on Secrets | WIRED

Speaking with Wired magazine editor David Rowan in London at an event on 25 September, Thiel said that "uniqueness", "secrets", and a monopoly on the marketplace were the key to successful startups.
Subscribe to WIRED ►► po.st/SubscribeWired
CONNECT WITH WIRED
Web: po.st/VideoWired
Twitter: po.st/TwitterWired
Facebook: po.st/FacebookWired
Google+: po.st/GoogleWired
Instagram: po.st/InstagramWired
Magazine: po.st/MagazineWired
Newsletter: po.st/NewslettersWired
ABOUT WIRED
WIRED brings you the future as it happens - the people, the trends, the big ideas that will change our lives. An award-winning printed monthly and online publication. WIRED is an agenda-setting magazine offering brain food on a wide range of topics, from science, technology and business to pop-culture and politics.
Peter Thiel: Successful businesses are based on secrets | WIRED
/ wireduk

[@wealthydetective1619]

My favorite QUOTE of the speach: "We live in a world where COURAGE is in shorter supply then GENIUS". So true.

[@BLUEGENE13]

I think it's terribly true for almost all of us, it's also just a very nice line too lol

[@kamilmalek5528]

I really like how respectful and thoughtful the interviewer here is. You get so many talks where the interviewee can't really spread his wings because he has to work with trivial questions or where the whole talk diverges into smart jokes. Very good interview.

[@rickymcu]

Absolutely. And he let him talk. Didn’t interrupt him.

[@Texaglo.]

@@rickymcu yo, y

[@stephanemasse9972]

you made me think of Gary Vaynerchuk

[@vincentsnow8436]

You referenced ’smart jokes’ .. excellent observation on your part . Interviewers typically yield to their own egos with snappy- happy talk .. often an attempt to ingratiate themselves. online viewers often click through and move on when this occurs

[@swerve361]

@@rickymcu out

[@thomasmadison3896]

So.....1. Try to get a monopoly on a market without looking like a monopoly to the government. 2. Get the timing right. i.e. time to enter the market and exit if need be. 3. Have a secret no one else has. i.e. a patented technology, a social angle, some kind of niche or secret that helps to form your monopoly. 4. Having the right team. Getting that well oiled machine up and running on all cylinders. Team first. 5. Foster an atmosphere of creativity, cooperation, and work hard, hard, hard. OK got it. Look out world.

[@aledmb]

Thomas Madison yeah, i've not found a single practical advice in this whole talk... waste of my time.

[@aledmb]

Connor Sumners well, i just agree with all that Thomas said above... it's good advice, if you're already in a very good position to succeed.

[@dimonai01]

Connor Sumners there was a time when he didn't know what an IPO is either..

[@dimonai01]

Connor Sumners i'm just pointing out that knowing what an IPO is doesn't make you a genius. but yes you're right, i think i misread your comment

[@jzk2020]

+Thomas Madison Thanks for saving me 60 min. of my time.

[@PlaneToTheBrainES]

Everytime I hear Peter Thiel I can't help but think how much reason he does have. This is truly gold.

[@jakekoehler9178]

Pic oopp on

[@tracysample6942]

He's a bonafide sociopath.

[@emmanueloluga9770]

@@tracysample6942 Define bonafide, and define sociopath

[@rickydrizzle9150]

This man is like an ever flowing fountain of wisdom. Listen to him, pure dense coherent wisdom, and not a single stumble while he's at it.

[@singhmaster4]

True that

[@shamusmichaelrichardduffey5353]

That's all true but he does stumble if we define stumble as saying, "um".🤣

[@uxbykilian3148]

Just because you stumble it doesn't mean that you lack wisdom

[@jayolsen1155]

Any books out there similar in quality to Zero to One? I loved it and I want more

[@infinitesigma6616]

Better living through Chemistry…

[@singhmaster4]

This guy doesn't waste a sentence. Full of knowledge. Like he is in the military giving orders. LOL! I like this guy.

[@MIGHTY_YES]

one letter away from THEIF🐷🐷🐷🐷🤕🤕🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🐷🐽POS. LIAR

[@kingcountyband]

A.I. ENVOY riiiiiiight 🤦🏼‍♂️🤡

[@StatusFX3]

His company Palantir is doing very well in the stock market. Its expected to 5x in the next few years.

[@green8026]

Saying: "death is a natural part of life" Thiel's response: "it is at least as natural to fight it" That's a doer attitude if I've ever seen one. I applaud it!

[@MilciadesAndrion]

This dissertation is very instructional. He discusses controversial points and provides questions and answers for different situation. Great video.

[@taihungau8696]

I clicked on this video thinking that there's no way I'm watching the whole thing... and here I am writing this comment after 1 hour 11 minutes and 11 seconds has passed...

[@sineadtbc3338]

Nice! I really respect Peter for sharing his ideas - he really did not need to and most of them do not.

[@Olehenry]

Agreed in respect for Mr Thiel's sharing. I would wager he plans sharings (like these) to be motivating & rewarding to the Founders in the long-run. Rewarding in the sense of fostering growth of broader and deeper driven ideas from narrowly-seeking entrepreneurs who come to Founders in search of expertise in turning the secrets into gold mines. In place of "low-hanging fruit", I wonder if he has coined a term for this new hidden "source" or method, etc. of revealing new secrets...

[@VladimirOnOccasion]

He's just a Bilderberg bot

[@Rafareismaretti]

Vladimir OnOccasion nope

[@polypus74]

Settings > Speed > 1.75

[@codecutner4902]

People don't like Thiel ,Cause he speaks the truth.

[@coletivating]

14:00-15:00 he is talking about mastery of a field. Only through constant observation will nature reveal its secrets.

[@michaelsonsarmiento5943]

Goethe said nature only reveals herself to the apt, pure and true.

[@classicboyir]

The questions that I can hardly answer is that Google, Facebook, (you name it) are not an example of zero to one as there were search engines, there were social media comps, etc. They came up with a much better way of doing search, or connecting people in a much better way in facebook. The other famous comment which is kinda against this argument is that no one remembers the first but everyone remembers the best.

[@ascensionblade]

One of his points in the book is that it is more important to be the "last-mover" than the first. Another point he makes is that the company must have a "secret" or something else that it can use to maintain its success. He might not get to it in this video, but I think he agrees with you.

[@friendlyone2706]

"We live in a world where courage is in shorter supply than genius." Courage has always been in shorter supply. In small community of a few thousand people, there are almost certainly at least a hundred people who are genius level. It is usually fear that keeps their presence almost undetectable.

[@Sams911]

strange to think I went to high school with him, we were in the Computer club together ... I never paid him much attention ... bad decision.

[@davidg9469]

Really? I think most successful people are the ones nobody pays attention to.

[@nivrrtakr2891]

@@davidg9469 hmmm...I wonder why?

[@davidg9469]

@@nivrrtakr2891 well, this is not a general rule, but successful people tend to be the ones least likely to suceed, a.k.a the losers nobody paid attention in school.

[@Zo-hc2fn]

I am thinking about a new type of restaurants : eating-spots, in eating-spots, food keeps changing, chefs also rotate, this is opposed to current restaurants, thanks to this rotation of food and chefs, eating-spots are way more powerful than restaurants, along with that, there is an app, people vote for the food that will be cooked in the next days, menu is influenced by the live input of the people via an app.

[@Sams911]

@@Zo-hc2fn what does that have anything to do with my comment above?

[@chrisfaraday3924]

"Most people think competition and capitalism are synonyms, I believe they are antonyms"

[@rkvidekar]

awesome video!! thank you!!

[@802reptiles4]

Thanks for posting,

[@perspectiveflip]

What an incredibly smart guy. Great interview!

[@alisrasic7025]

Probably one of the best speeches heard in the last months...impressive toughs.

[@VicRoseOfficial]

Peter Knew all the kinds of businesses in the future that would dominate the market. Invest in all stocks that are like the businesses he mentioned.

[@Myrslokstok]

He is so refreshing. - I mean witch military general spell out his strategie. - competition is bad of course.

[@AnkitSharma-kv8qj]

absolutely brilliant!! i work on macro strategy for firms and this guys is spot on!!

[@royreyes8422]

thank you for laing out your playbook to world domination. much appreciated for sharing this vdeo. creativity is king.

[@sianacampbell3028]

27:45-28:15 Totally on point.

[@richaunt0313]

Dear Peter, I have been reading your book these days~ So impressed and will follow your leading ideas for my business forward. I think you are the genuine entrepreneur and you have been the best mentor whom many youths want to follow~ -Best regards/Julie In, S. Korea

[@JunaidSalehHayat]

Thank you for sharing!

[@michuk007]

rambling on about the future of innovation...spellbinding. Great upload

[@sineadward5225]

I just want more of him, I really do. He doesn’t speak half enough anymore.

[@jumpforjoy6]

Calm down Sinéad

[@bobbastian760]

....aaaand this audience didn't get the Star Wars reference. Also - for the UK audience, nice touch Peter changing the reference to British food to French food. Nicely done.

[@lukemilton1964]

Peter Thiel is an amazing speaker! Awesome speech!

[@tracysample6942]

He's anti democracy and is using crypto to crash the dollar without the people's consent.

[@clints4049]

27:24 just when I thought Thiel wouldn't have anything interesting to comment on a topic he knocks another question-this one about SV founders and why they differ from others-out of the park.

[@fabianhaglund5792]

I mean you always have to be critically set when listening to someone lay out their worldview, but my opinion is that Peter Thiel- as many others here have mentioned- does bring some very interesting points to the table. This however he managed to earn his money. Some smart people are rich, some are not. Some think a lot on these questions, others don't. My view.

[@chandradekeyser9173]

Great one on monopolies ! 👏🏻👏🏿

[@Silvertestrun]

Thank you!

[@markharrison1689]

You are a genius Peter.

[@VOICEYOURMIND]

Listen, Learn, Research and Confirm. Decide for yourself and use wise council, studying and discernment to reach your conclusion. Don't let someone who speaks with authority have it because of their tone but give respect where respect is due. The rich are just men and make incorrect assessments daily. Use their words as council not the law.

[@schedirvenus]

Finding the secret to immortality. That’s what I call thinking big enough, being a contrarian and not accepting limitations. It’s kind of a given that we have to die. Well maybe actually we don’t, and science can fix that.

[@bcr66]

Brilliant!

[@blahzndef]

I wish I had as much faith in private enterprise to conduct cutting edge science and fund capital intensive projects as Mr. Thiel. This guy really does not like big government.

[@friendlyone2706]

Do research on people who have gone from working in government to working in the private sector. From economist Thomas Sowell to engineers hired by Elon Musk the story is the same. Government 'progress' is typically like someone belly-crawling on a path, safely reaching the top of the hill. Private Industry is getting up and walking to the top of the hill. Brilliant private industry, runs to the top. The really brilliant, invents the motorcycle.

[@andybaldman]

His company Palantir does big data analysis for the government.

[@Gretev1]

The way he pronounces „hitherto“ at 4:33 cracks me up

[@food2430]

Gretev1 grow up

[@Gretev1]

M if by your understanding „to grow up“ means I may not indulge in a sense of humor then...no thanks!

[@andybaldman]

Aspergers

[@eritafinds]

these shorts make my day

[@makaylahollywood3677]

This man is someone i can relate to. Twitter is like hot air balloons in a computer.

[@helsontaveras7961]

27:00 peter can handle the business side

[@GamerRoomDe]

Great man.

[@anonymusx505]

The foundation of money is metaphysical, is All mystical ...

[@prefect22]

P

[@polymath6475]

Wow they were discussing a "bubble" in 2014. 2014 looks like growth was just starting compared to 2021. At least Thiel was smart enough to say it was in govt and not in tech.

[@Justin-qz9rs]

It's Peter Gregory!

[@dustinlee6797]

Peter thiel is my life long business mentor

[@vesrajbogati2156]

Same here. Would like to connect in FB?

[@jonathanjaviersayagohoyos7003]

After your own theories Mr Thiel, here some contrarian thoughts 1. globalization must slow down in order to improve innovation. Both concepts don't go well together think in the copycat problem. If a group of friends see each other every single day they will end up bored, they need to create divisions to explore and then come back with some news 2. we don't need too much further innovation to achieve wealth and happiness is more a problem of distribution of wealth that we need to tackle and employ technology for the best of the community and not for only one monopolistic group. From here that empowering technologies are flourishing. In oder words we don't need to oppress someone to achieve wealth. On the contrary we need to empower she/him. Think of a man who lives 1000 years, after all the social knowhow and wisdom he wouldn't have trouble being wealthy in any era of human history 3. the evolution of world civilization is actually predictable on the long time horizon so on that many visionaries have been able to do it, what is really difficult is to predict evolution on the short time horizon. This last statements go agains the principles of conventional forecasting and statistics. Thanks Mr Thiel for sharing with us that competition is for losers, though I believe many other people have known this secret for many years. I believe that when the great boxer Mayweather says: "hard work is easy work" he makes the same point 4. by definition many people will read my post won't agree which brings up the next point, democracy requires information technologies and artificial intelligence together in order to take us to the next golden era. The next breakthrough innovation must touch our political system!! The problem with it is that political sciences are not exact and therefore is difficult to achieve consensus. The only consensus we all may agree in is that the greatest bottleneck for innovation are regulations. It is a social integration challenge we are facing.

[@royreyes8422]

Jonathan Javier Sayago Hoyos it is a wild world. and i agree distribution of wealth is the key integrate social beliefs. we yet to figure out the general regulator like that of the UN

[@30framespersecond99]

Woow i agree with you fully. .

[@iliailiev908]

David Rowan is very good anchorman

[@YoungTeeke]

This is why ARRR pirate chain is soooo important. The only crypto private by default. Not to buy illegal things or drugs! It’s to keep your business dealing secret in a cashless society with open public ledgers

[@afterthesmash]

15:00 I've come back to this after three years. Thiel has so far said two things that caught notice today differently than they would have when I first viewed this in 2019. _There's a lot of ongoing innovation in the digital space._ 1000% correct. He said this before AlphaGo and ChatGPT ruptured the fabric of the known universe. _I think the 21st century will be a peaceful century._ Not trending in a good direction. On early returns, couldn't be more off base. This was in my notes about Thiel: I'm consistently thrilled by half of what he says, while losing my eyebrows over the other half of what he says. His book is titled _Zero to One,_ which for me averages out to a batting average of 0.500. That's actually a pretty good batting average when you swing for the fences a whole bunch, which Thiel certainly does.

[@ccbsgful]

At least, he is honest, success is based on monopoly and secrets

[@johnowens22]

Just as money is not the root of all evil, but rather the love of money... So is a monopoly not bad, but rather a forced monopoly over raw materials or freedom. Google searches don't deny anyone life, food, water, shelter or happiness. If Google wants customers, they must make something people WANT to pay a lot of money for.

[@afterthesmash]

Eric Weinstein: _3 rules for choosing an archnemesis_ (August 2019) * it should be somebody that you want to see in this world * it should be somebody that accepts you as their archnemesis * If you lose, you want them to win This is a tremendously hard list for the average person to satisfy. But I think the exercise is useful, nevertheless. Peter Thiel ticks me off with more of those boxes than most. Weinstein's mutuality requirement is a bit rich. Role models are typically a rung up the ladder, with a many:1 relationship to the rung below. True eye-level rivalries are pretty rare on the ground.

[@RyanJohnson]

So glad I develop in isolation.

[@johnnovotny4286]

"If you are copying these people, you are not learning from them." - PT on real entrepreneurs

[@lpfan540]

Some of the most successful people are nothing more than well dressed BS artists. "Picasso had a saying -- 'good artists copy; great artists steal' -- and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas." - steve jobs

[@Wa7edmenalnass]

Summary: if you do what everyone does, you will get the results that everyone gets.

[@shadownoobnoobslayer5424]

worse than everyone else u are behind everyone else better to have something new and risky and be at 100% new market than be at 0.0000000001% of existing market that atm works and pays well... trick is its hard to be 1st at something hard to find inspiration to do new things inspiration dose not pay well atm

[@momendaraghmeh7742]

what is the best way to make money from investing?

[@patrickrobert7356]

I don't trade, I invest with a professional assigned by a crypto company that trades for us and returns profits weekly for me and you can invest your capital and get weekly Returns of investment (ROI) without any extra fees attached The professional is Mrs. Marley Rose

[@dorianagonzalez1525]

I think the best way is to invest with a professional, at least it saves the trauma of too many losses This just surprised me because I also invest with Marley Rose.

[@mykolasmarcinkevicius771]

Highly underrated thinking and conceptual toolkits presented in this talk. Yes even in 2020.

[@GrantLenaarts]

and 2021.

[@rd264]

my new guru!

[@jaygatsby1]

The thumbnail at a glance looks like “An evening with Peter Thiel hosted by Christophah Moltisanti’

[@smallbluemachine]

This Peter Thiel fellow will go far! -That’s my prediction.

[@siddheshpatwardhan4920]

You, sir, are awesome at predicting the past

[@MrSujitSujitSujit]

great talk

[@conqueringruler4283]

Refreshing dude

[@totpaster7977]

I agree This is the Time to find or create answers to problems and never worry about Income again🦄🌈💯🚀🙏🏿✝️

[@raymondwilliams6065]

It's actually irritating how smart he is

[@kubes8388]

he has that throaty tone like one of my engineering prof im university xD smart straight to giving point ofc

[@frankremi1860]

This man is a genius. His company Palatir will rule the world. Im in!

[@eightbilliondollars]

took down Gawker in such harsh manner. Much respect for such conviction.

[@cardmaverick]

He needs to dive into the difference between monopoly in the free market VS monopoly gained using government force. Most monopolies we have seen are the latter from, so not very representative of a true free market monopoly. Look into the role regulations played during the industrial revolution.

[@tensevo]

GOOGL paid £400M for Deep Mind. MSFT just paid £7.5B for Git Hub. Thoughts?

[@royreyes8422]

Mark Freeman scanners ... thats power

[@da_revo5747]

GitHub matters more and so is worth more. The buzz matters little

[@lord.surbitron]

Reminds me of Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.

[@skyisblue3847]

Paypal, Palantir, and Facebook are the best growth stocks

[@stuartnisbet4212]

I have to disagree regarding the 1914 to 1971 precis which entirely bypasses the Marshall Plan which both rebuilt and indentured Western Europe for ideological reasons i.e. anti communist.I'll mention also that the First World represents post industrial developed nations within the sphere of USA influence,the Second World represents the Communist Bloc and the Third World represents the undeveloped remainder not yet within either sphere.

[@LilGigiGabor]

I would like some practical advice as to how to move on professional after an absence of 4+ years? Transformation - does that mean I have to loose all that mattered? Still does? Customer focused person not money oriented but that becomes a byproduct of good service. Gill;Dx

[@apipunyuuu1090]

Good project

[@pmmpmmpmm]

You put Liechtenstein, but not Canada?

[@Western_TV]

58:10 - "gets put on a floating country" is funny because they actually did that 😭😆

[@lucasbowering]

Thought experiment at 45 minutes, "what would you do if you were in the white house?" Thiel is in the white house now.

[@jaruissanz1299]

Competition Is For Losers... Best quote ever in the history of mankind.

[@Edgar-Friendly]

Coffee is for closer only.

[@michaeldemarco82]

Horizontal growth is not necessarily orthogonal to Vertical Growth in all contexts but I understand in the context of his semantic. I understand that vertical growth or technology implies newness and horizontal growth is globalization or copying. However, globalization is dependent on technology so its not orthogonal in all contexts. He smart but hes not a Gauss or Newton that is for sure.

[@tombirmingham7033]

peter thiel "why me having a monopoly of power over you" is a good thing.

[@FastlaneProductions1]

Peter has pointed out that he believes all successful companies are monopolies. Even companies that appear to be competitors actually have some less obvious monopoly.

[@liveyourbestlife1513]

Thiel seems to be interested in things that go against conventional wisdom. I like that about him. He is one of the very interesting people in our time.

[@williammarquis396]

Thomas, great summary, these billionaires good to lucky and lucky to be good. Its almost like lottery of luck and having an idea at the right time with the right people.

[@kennethwong8843]

But Peter is not a one hit wonder; he's been consistently good at what he does.

[@Abc19853]

please turn on auto generated captions

[@aadeshbaniya6182]

French-Nepalese cuisine..nice idea Peter!

[@nepinfo6635]

I was thinking about to open Nepalese African cuisine in Sydney Australia

[@aadeshbaniya6182]

@@nepinfo6635 really… I am a Nepalese guy in Australia. Do you want a collab? 😀😀😀

[@nepinfo6635]

@@aadeshbaniya6182 i live in Sydney too , from nepal . Actually I'm trying to find new ideas and next unicorn company. I'm happy to have a chat with you.

[@CCP-pb5ss]

4:12 "..tell me something that is true..that almost no one else agrees w/ you on" dude..this..& it applies to sooo many facts in general..but especially today most people are told what to think & like via mass commercial marketing when you hit them with something true but left field..they dont know wtf & that's the billion dollar resolution..giving 'em what they didnt know they needed

[@olafheraldsson6792]

The internet age isn't a source for good or bad it just makes things faster. This includes competition, which moves faster with access to everything. I think it's a balance between whether big successful innovators need less cutthroat competition to advance technology vs. a healthy competitive environment in which many companies develop niches within a broader industrial space.

[@jenkinzbrown9519]

When you invest, you're buying a day you don't have to work

[@chrispaul3778]

Assets that can make you rich Bitcoin Stocks Real estate

[@indiaculture5166]

@Andy Chang It's not ignorance but due to some unprofessional broker in the market

[@popsarah7805]

Bitcoin is the most profitable investment online of only you trade with the help of a professional expert

[@cassiejacobs4197]

@Vera Jones Same here, I wish I knew about this Bitcoin trading earlier, brace up and get yourself some Bitcoin before it's too late

[@thomasdooley3702]

Obviously trading in bitcoin is very volatile and risky to trade that's the reason most traders trade with a company

[@joeyreddick6036]

wealth is vast but knowing is half the differance

[@marvinrobot962]

Lots of successful companies are copies of earlier companies..

[@Natharsus]

He’s referring to modern day major corporations like Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc. He didn’t say you couldn’t become successful by copying someone else’s idea.

[@DeleyDelz]

this is great

[@lotlotschwaner4696]

this is a meeting to 3 country road yesterday.

[@tico7654]

I thu=ink this man is a genius. but also he's got a lot of luck and got to know the correct people and to be born in the right spot.

[@Myrslokstok]

He should be Trumps vice precident along with a few new ministers.

[@snn517]

loved his view on college lol

[@rishabhkashyap619]

I really like the way he said "Thank You" after giving his 3 contrary answers.

[@robtennapel78]

I say One thing: global energy transmission. GET it...

[@carlosrios3215]

I can’t believe how this was published 7 years ago. Blink of an eye, really.

[@lotlotschwaner4696]

zer whats timer now? kasi mero pang paligsahan sa kabilang ibayo.(d)(K)