Create a monopoly, be unique: PayPal founder Peter Thiel's rules for success

An entrepreneur, tech investor and philanthropist, that’s how the world knows ‘PayPal’ founder Peter Thiel, the German-American business tycoon who celebrates his 50th birthday today.

Thiel, with an annual worth of billions, has become a poster boy of success. Despite being educated from the prestigious Stanford University, he continues to question the relevance of a fancy college degree, and often recommends realising ideas outside the university.

However, not many know what it takes to be just as successful as Thiel himself. In a web interview with YouTuber Evan Carmichael, the entrepreneur-cum-author revealed his top 10 rules for success. Take a look:


1. ‘You are the entrepreneur of your life’
Thiel says that every individual is free to choose, do, or prioritise things according to their own liking. Every individual has tremendous amount of freedom to make these basic decisions and these are exactly what shape your life and future.

2. ‘Do one thing uniquely well’
Thiel says that uniqueness is the USP for any startup. He says that it is important for a company to do one thing exceptionally well. That is what adds to its uniqueness. It should be able to do that one thing better than anyone in the world.

An important question is, ‘What do you know that nobody else understands?’ It is important to know which form of business exists which no one else understands and is aware of.


3. ‘Make sure that people align properly’
It is very important to ensure that people in the company are aligned with each other. Both formal and informal alignment are important. The former defines the importance of a good structure in the company and the latter is how people decide to work with each other in the workplace.

Alignment and structure at the workplace make sense when people offer complimentary skills. For example, a startup where one has a tech mind and the other has a business mind can do well.


4. ‘Aim for monopoly’
Thiel’s 4th rule says that one should aim for a monopoly, create something different from what exists already. One must aim to build a company which is one of a kind. It should be of a concept different enough to not gain competitors.

5. ‘Don’t be a fake entrepreneur’
To Thiel, saying that one wants to be an entrepreneur is like saying that I want to be rich and famous. Starting a new company should be backed by a strong purpose like solving a problem which has not been solved yet. Starting a company just for the sake of it is a very odd thing to do, he says.

6. ‘Value substance over status’
Be more focused on the substance of trying to learn new things instead of the output it might fetch you.

7. ‘Don’t lose sight of what’s valuable’
Ferocious competition can make you better your skills, but it comes with a price. It makes you more focused on beating your opponents. This makes you lose sight of what is truly valuable.


8. ‘Trends at overrated’
According to Thiel, all trends are overrated. Trends usually refer to categories where multiple companies are pretty much the same. If one can describes what his or her company is doing on the basis of these trends, it is a sign of the fact that the business was a bad idea.

9. ‘Don’t dwell on the past’
According to Thiel, failure is not what people learn much from. It is a sort of a myth to challenge. If something goes badly wrong, it would be wise to keep going on, do something else and avoid dwelling on the past.

10. ‘Find the secret path’
It is important to find the secret path to success, the one little door which no one has explored yet. That door might be the one which every person is trying to get through but is failing to do so. Pick that path.