The Definitive Seven-Part Audit
In Chapter 13 of Zero to One, Thiel introduces seven questions that every business must answer satisfactorily. If you have great answers to all seven, you will dominate your category and build an enduring monopoly. If you fail five or six of them, you are almost guaranteed to combust.
| Test | The Question | Diagnostic Failure Mode |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The Engineering Question | Can you create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements? | Settling for 20% or 30% gains that are easily swallowed by switching friction or incumbent scale. |
| 2. The Timing Question | Is now the right time to start your particular business? | Launching before enabling substrate exists, or arriving 3 years too late when category lock-in occurred. |
| 3. The Monopoly Question | Are you starting with a big share of a small market? | Aiming for 1% of an existing gigantic market, leading to instant competitive slaughter. |
| 4. The People Question | Do you have the right team to execute this specific vision? | Hiring generalists in suits who talk about business development while lacking engineers who can build. |
| 5. The Distribution Question | Do you have a way to not just create, but deliver your product? | Assuming "if we build it, they will come." Engineering geniuses who view sales as beneath them. |
| 6. The Durability Question | Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years into the future? | Relying on transient viral fads that lack structural barriers to entry or high retention moats. |
| 7. The Secret Question | Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don't see? | Copying another company’s public press releases instead of exploiting hidden structural realities. |
Interactive Diagnostic Tool
Score your current enterprise concept using our interactive evaluation framework. Rate each criterion from 1 (Weak / Conventional) to 5 (Definitive Monopoly Grade).
Venture Viability Matrix
COMPOSITE AUDIT SCORE
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