Venture Capitalist of Behaviourist Economics

Peter Thiel was born on October 11, 1967, in Frankfurt, Germany, to American parents. He is a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and philosopher, best known for co-founding PayPal and being one of the earliest investors in Facebook. Thiel’s influence extends far beyond the tech industry, as he has gained significant attention for his unconventional views on economics, politics, and society. Thiel holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Stanford University, where he graduated magna cum laude. He later went on to earn a J.D. from Stanford Law School, although he is known for having rejected the traditional career paths in law and business in favor of building tech companies and challenging established norms.

Thiel’s career began in the world of finance, where he co-founded PayPal in 1998 with Max Levchin and Luke Nosek. PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion, making Thiel a multi-millionaire. After the acquisition, Thiel turned to venture capital, founding the founders fund and investing in a number of prominent startups, including Facebook, Palantir, LinkedIn, and Airbnb. His role in the development of these companies solidified his status as a highly influential figure in Silicon Valley.

Thiel is also known for his distinctive views on innovation and the future of technology. His philosophy is outlined in his influential book, “Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future” (2014), in which he advocates for the importance of creating innovative technologies that radically transform industries, as opposed to merely improving upon existing ones. The core of Thiel’s economic belief system revolves around the idea that monopoly companies — those that create something entirely new — drive economic progress, while competition often leads to economic stagnation and short-termism. He urges entrepreneurs to avoid competing in crowded markets and instead focus on creating products or services that are so distinctive they essentially create a monopoly.

Thiel’s ideas on monopoly and entrepreneurship challenge traditional economic assumptions. He has argued that competition in industries leads to lower profits and less innovation, while monopoly allows companies to reinvest in the development of new technologies and to achieve long-term success. This view positions Thiel in contrast to more traditional neoclassical economics, which generally assumes competition is a driver of innovation and market efficiency.

Another key area of Thiel’s thought is his critique of higher education and government intervention. He has famously argued that higher education is an overpriced and inefficient system that often fails to prepare students for the challenges of the modern world. Thiel has been critical of the growing dominance of credentialism in American society, where the pursuit of academic degrees has become a proxy for talent and capability, regardless of the actual utility of those degrees. To highlight his concerns, Thiel started the Thiel Fellowship in 2010, which offers young entrepreneurs $100,000 to drop out of college and pursue their startups.

Thiel is also a prominent libertarian thinker with strong views on the role of government and the future of politics. He has expressed concerns about the decline of Western civilization, the increasing power of the state, and the threat of collectivist ideologies. Thiel has argued that society needs to recapture the spirit of innovation that marked the post-war period, where rapid technological progress and individual freedoms were the driving forces behind economic success. He is known for his interest in seasteading, the idea of creating floating cities that exist outside the jurisdiction of any nation-state, as a means to foster economic freedom and political autonomy.

Thiel’s political views, often associated with his libertarian leanings, have made him a somewhat controversial figure. He was a significant donor to the Donald Trump campaign in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election and has been outspoken about his skepticism toward the political establishment. Thiel is a staunch advocate for the individual, believing that the freedom to innovate, whether in business or other aspects of life, is fundamental to creating a better future. He has been a critic of progressivism, especially the rise of identity politics and the way universities and tech companies have become ideological gatekeepers.

Thiel has authored several influential works, with his book “Zero to One” being the most well-known. This book emphasizes the importance of creating monopolistic businesses and outlines his views on the future of technology and entrepreneurship. In “The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and the Politics of Intolerance at Stanford” (1995), Thiel critiques the growing dominance of political correctness and identity politics at universities. He is also the author of “The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power”, which provides a detailed analysis of his life, beliefs, and contributions to the tech world.

Thiel is currently the president of Founders Fund, a venture capital firm he co-founded in 2005, and continues to be a significant player in the tech industry. His ideas about innovation, government, and economics have influenced countless entrepreneurs and thought leaders across various fields.

As of now, Peter Thiel is still alive, continuing to make significant contributions to both the world of venture capital and his wider philosophical and economic views.