“If you invest in Microsoft or Oracle, or a number of other companies for that matter, you're fundamentally making a bet that there's going to be no innovation. So an investment in Microsoft is a bet that the operating system is going to stay the same, it won't be replaced by Linux, Google Docs, or a mobile platform like iOS or Android.” InnovationInvestmentGoogleReplaced Author:Peter Thiel
“I think China thinks information technology is less important than we think it is in the US, economically, and more important politically. And so Chinese internet companies are extremely political, they're protected behind the great firewall of China, and investment in Alibaba is good as long as Jack Ma stays in the good graces of the Chinese communist party. Alibaba is largely copying various business models from the US; they have combined some things in interesting new ways, but I think it's fundamentally a business that works because of the political protection you get in China.” ThinkingLongImportantPoliticalInterestingPartyTechnologyGraceInternetInvestmentVariousProtectionChineseCommunistInformation Technology Author:Peter Thiel
“University administrators are the equivalent of subprime mortgage brokers selling you a story that you should go into debt massively, that it's not a consumption decision, it's an investment decision. Actually, no, it's a bad consumption decision. Most colleges are four-year parties.” ShouldYearsStoriesDecisionPartyFourCollegeInvestmentUniversityDebtSellingFour YearsConsumptionMortgageAdministratorsBrokers Author:Peter Thiel
“Higher education is the place where people who had big plans in high school get stuck in fierce rivalries with equally smart peers over conventional careers like management consulting and investment banking. For the privilege of being turned into conformists, students (or their families) pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in skyrocketing tuition that continues to outpace inflation. Why are we doing this to ourselves?” PeopleBigsSchoolPayCareersPlansStudentsHigherSmartHigh SchoolManagementDollarsInvestmentPrivilegeStuckFierceConventionalPeersBankingInflationRivalryHigher EducationConsultingConformistTuitionInvestment Banking Book:Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future Source: Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
“Value investors look at cash flows. If a company can maintain present cash flows for 5 or 6 years, it’s a good investment. Investors then just hope that those cash flows - and thus the company’s value - don’t decrease faster than they anticipate.” IfsYearsLooksValuesCompanyFlowInvestmentInvestingFasterInvestorsCashAnticipateDecreaseCash Flow Author:Peter Thiel
“The biggest secret in venture capital is that the best investment in a successful fund equals or outperforms the entire rest of the fund combined.” SecretSuccessfulInvestmentFundVentureVenture CapitalBest Investment Book:Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future Source: Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
