9 Lessons I Learned From Peter Thiel About Contrarian Ideas, Investing, and Startup Success

When you look at the most successful people in Silicon Valley, a pattern emerges. They are not simply smart. Nor are they merely ambitious.

What sets them apart is their willingness to hold ideas that sound wrong to most people and still pursue them with relentless conviction.

Peter Thiel is perhaps the clearest embodiment of this quality. He has built his career—and his fortune—on the belief that being contrarian is not just about being different. It is about being right when everyone else...