Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, VC/hedge fund manager and author of Zero to One, was interviewed by NY Times’ Quentin Hardy on Sept 30, 2014 at the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley event in Santa Clara, CA. While I agreed with several things Mr. Thiel said, he seems to be a man of many contradictions. Hardy said that Thiel “very richly embraces intellectual curiosity and combat.” But who is he fighting- himself? For example, Thiel is a steadfast libertarian. But he relishes bygone eras of government-funded moon shots and super-highways. He’s a free market capitalist, but loves monopolies and disdains competition, while championing risk taking and bold thinking entrepreneurs. Thiel says that the best businesses are monopolies, because they have profit power. With competition, businesses are forced to compete with many rivals and therefore end up with smaller profits. Yet he is strongly in favor of “big idea” entrepreneurs, risk taking, and innovation. He believes in taking risks to not only build wealth, but to build courage, rekindle yourself, and have larger visions of what society might become. OK, how can such entrepreneurs flourish if there’s no competition? Answer: They must create totally new markets and take a commanding share. Successful companies are built […]
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