It's good to test yourself and develop your talents and ambitions as fully as you can and achieve greater success; but I think success is the feeling you get from a job well done, and the key thing is to do the work.
Peter ThielRead
The best start-ups might be considered slightly less extreme kinds of cults. The biggest difference is that cults tend to be fanatically wrong about something important. People at a successful start-up are fanatically right about something those outside it have missed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Successful start-ups share intense commitment and passion, similar to cults, but are focused on a valuable truth instead of misguided beliefs.
In this quote, Peter Thiel compares successful start-ups to cults, highlighting how both involve a deep commitment from their members. However, rather than being misled by incorrect ideologies, the members of a thriving start-up are dedicated to a vision or innovation that others might overlook, emphasizing the importance of being 'fanatically right' in their pursuits.
Themes
Start-UpsInnovationCommitmentBusinessCulture
In practice
Example use cases
During a pitch to investors, you might reference this quote to illustrate the passion behind your start-up's mission.
More from Peter Thiel
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What is it about our society where anyone who does not have Asperger's gets talked out of their heterodox ideas?
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Every time you write an email, it is in the public domain. There are all these ways where security is not as good as people believe.
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Creating value isn't enough - you also need to capture some of the value you create.
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