Peter Thiel explains the importance of a powerful story

When asked what he looks for in an entrepreneur to back, Thiel responds:

“We’re looking for companies where there is a very powerful narrative around the company. Obviously you want people who are very smart, very talented… But beyond that, there has to be an ability to attract a number of other talented people. And that’s how you really build the critical mass that builds these great businesses.”

Thiel continues:

“Normally when we find talented people with a powerful story, that’s almost enough for us to invest. I think that’s actually very rare at this point. But you have to ask the question, what will motivate the 20th or 30th or 40th employee to join this company? It’s probably not financial and it’s probably not fame or anything like that. It has to be that they believe that there’s something incredibly powerful and valuable about what it’s doing.”

Full video: Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California “Max Levchin and Peter Thiel: Smart Venture Capital in 2011 (2/2/11)“ (Feb 2011)

P.S. We’ve put together a YouTube playlist with every Peter Thiel insight we’ve ever shared. You can watch it here: “Best startup advice from Peter Thiel”