Peter Thiel nurtures young Tsinghua minds

Peter Thiel, the celebrated capitalist and entrepreneur from the U.S., was at Tsinghua in March to deliver the course “Startup Thinking” in a series of six lectures.

His visit, from March 14 to 25, was organized by the School of Economics and Management (Tsinghua SEM).

The course was open to undergraduate and graduate students, who participated in the lectures and tutorial discussions over two weeks.

Built upon the book "Zero to One: Notes of Strart-ups, or How to Build the Future" and adding examples from the Chinese market, Peter Thiel shared his views and insights on successful companies, investment methodology and perspectives on future of technology and human society development.

Theil’s Tsinghua course was composed of six themes: Zero to One, How Monopoly Works, Anti-Management, The Tyranny of Chance, How to Invest, and Futures.

Students attending the 16-hour elective course were treated to highly interactive seminars over two weeks, targeted at both core values and the hidden secrets of “Start-up Thinking”.

It was Thiel’s first course outside the U.S. and Professor Qian Yingyi, Dean of Tsinghua SEM, presented him with a certificate of appointment as Distinguished Guest Professor of Management Practice of Tsinghua SEM.

On March 25, after his final lecture, Thiel had a one-hour dialogue with Professor QIAN. Thiel stressed the importance of Contrarian Thinking, and shared his new observations on startups and investing, as well as his perspectives on the future of technology and innovation.

Thiel advised students to start asking the right questions and create an environment where people can explore different questions.

He also emphasized the importance of maintaining relationships by sharing his experiences of building PayPal.

(From Office of Global Communications and Outreach)