Startup & VC Jargon · Managing Director level

"Zero to one"

"Zero to one" means creating something genuinely new that did not exist before, rather than improving or copying something that already exists.

Say this instead: building something new

How "Zero to one" shows up at work

Borrowed from Peter Thiel's book of the same name and adopted widely in startup and venture circles. It distinguishes founders who are building original things from those who are, in Thiel's framing, going from one to n. Now used in product meetings to mean roughly the same as "greenfield."

Buzzword

This isn't an iteration play, it's a zero to one moment for the category.

Plain English

This isn't an iteration play, it's a chance to build something genuinely new for the category.

Corporate Rank: Managing Director · Category: Startup & VC Jargon

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