Silicon Valley legend Peter Thiel’s vision for building the companies of the future. In Spring 2012, students at Stanford University packed a lecture hall to hear Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel teach a course called “Computer Science 183: Startup.” Thiel told the class everything he knows about starting a company, going beyond the basics of running a business to answer the much harder question of how to find value where other people do not see it. Now Thiel and former student Blake Masters, whose notes on the class became an internet sensation, have revised, updated, and expanded on the best parts of the lectures. The result is this unique book: simultaneously an insider’s view of Silicon Valley, a practical guide for thinking about business, and a contrarian vision of the future. Thiel starts from the bold premise that we live in an age of technological stagnation, even if we’re too distracted by our new mobile devices to notice. Progress has stalled in every industry except computers, and globalization is hardly the revolution people think it is. It’s true that the world can get marginally richer by building new copies of old inventions, making horizontal progress from “1 to ” But true innovators have nothing to copy. The most valuable companies of the future will make vertical progress from “0 to 1,” creating entirely new industries and products that have never existed before. is about how to build these companies. Tomorrow’s champions will not win by competing ruthlessly in today’s marketplace. They will escape competition altogether, because their businesses will be unique. In today’s post-internet bubble world, conventional wisdom dictates that all the good ideas are taken, and the economy becomes a tournament in which everyone competes to reach the top. shows how to quit the zero-sum tournament by finding an untapped market, creating a new product, and quickly scaling up a monopoly business that captures lasting value. Planning an escape from competition is essential for every business and every individual, not just for technology startups. The greatest secret of the modern era is that there are still unique frontiers to explore and new problems to solve. shows how to pursue them using the most important, most difficult, and most underrated skill in every job or industry: thinking for yourself. --

瑞·达利欧是全世界顶级投资家、企业家之一，对冲基金公司桥水创始人。桥水创立至今为客户赚取的收益远远超过历史上任何一家对冲基金。达利欧认为桥水的成功源自他所奉行的一套原则，而这些原则也是他一生中学到的最重要的东西。 达利欧认为，我们可以像看待机器一样看待生活、管理、经商和投资，并将其系统化为一系列原则。这本书阐述了他的原则的两大基石——极度求真、极度透明，并介绍了以此为基础的创意择优，以及基于可信度评价的决策机制。书中500多条原则将帮助我们保持开放心态，看清现实，正确评价自己和他人，从容面对做决策、打造强大团队等问题，更进一步深入认识自我，实现不断成长。 达利欧相信，自己的成功并非因为个人的特质，而是因为他从失败中学会了做人、做事的原则，而大多数人和公司都可以运用他的这些原则更好地实现自己的目标。