Peter Thiel Quotes

"Indefinite optimism is the belief that the future will be better, but we don't know how."

"The most important things are not incremental. They are the breakthroughs that change the world."

"You need to have the confidence to believe that the world is not as it seems."

"A business with a good plan is better than a business with no plan, but a business with a great plan is a monopoly."

"All happy companies are different: each one earns a monopoly by solving a unique problem. All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition."

"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."

"The creative process begins with a rejection of the status quo."

"The most important thing is to be doing something that is useful to other people."

"The best startups might be considered slightly less than crazy, but they are certainly more than just a good idea."

"The best entrepreneurs know this: every great business is built around a secret that’s hidden from the outside. A great company is a conspiracy to change the world."

"Don't overrate the power of luck. Success is never just a matter of being in the right place at the right time."

"The world is waiting for people with the confidence to change it."

"In a world where everything is moving faster, the ability to slow down and think clearly is a competitive advantage."

"The goal is not to be busy. The goal is to be effective."

"A company is the largest group of people you can convince of a plan to build a different future."

"The best entrepreneurs are not risk-takers. They are risk-mitigators."

"If you can identify a delusional popular belief, you can find what lies hidden behind it: the contrarian truth."

"Don't just follow the trends. The next big thing will not look like the last big thing."

"The goal is to be a monopoly of one."

"The challenge for the entrepreneur is to find the intersection between what is possible and what is ignored."

"The only way to achieve extraordinary results is to do something extraordinary."

"Every moment in business happens only once."

"Doing something different is what's truly good for society – and it's also what allows a business to profit by monopolizing a new market."

"Prophets are people who see things that are already there, but that no one else sees."

"Sales is hidden. If you’ve invented something new but you haven’t invented an effective way to sell it, you have a bad business."

"Don't just go with the flow; you have to have the conviction to stand apart."

"If you're at a company where you can't describe the mission in a single sentence, then the company is probably in trouble."

"All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. In business, the opposite is true. All happy companies are different: each one earns a monopoly by solving a unique problem."

"Founders should be slightly strange, or even very strange."

"Indefinite optimism—the belief that the future will be better but we don't know how—is the enemy of true creation."

"As an investor, I look for a company that has the potential to capture a large share of a small market."

"Incrementalism is the enemy of innovation."

"In a world of indefinite optimism, people prefer a portfolio of options over a single definite plan."