Thiel's Founder List Method

Peter Thiel's approach to building early startup teams involves an intentional strategy of recruiting the smartest people in your network. This framework comes from Garry Tan's experience with Palantir's early days.

The Core Strategy

• Take an 8.5x11 sheet of paper
• Write down all the smartest people you know
• Actively pursue them through persistent outreach:
  • Take them to dinner
  • Take them to lunch
  • "Sit on their doorstep" until they quit their jobs to join

Key Principles

• Focus on raw intelligence over experience
• Willing to make compelling offers:
  • Example: Offering to match someone's entire salary to quit their job
  • Making direct financial commitments to secure talent
• Persistence in recruitment:
  • Multiple touchpoints
  • Continuous follow-up
  • Not taking initial "no" as final answer

Why This Works

• Gets the highest caliber people early
• Creates concentrated intelligence in the organization
• Follows the PayPal Mafia playbook:
  • Not enough money to make people comfortable
  • Enough money to take risks
  • Maintains hunger and drive to succeed
• Avoids traditional corporate recruiting which can:
  • Miss the best talent
  • Move too slowly
  • Fail to convey the mission/opportunity

Real World Example: Palantir

• Used this exact method in early days
• Targeted specific high-value recruits
• Made aggressive offers to secure key talent
• Built initial team through direct founder outreach
• Resulted in successful early team assembly