Peter Thiel nailed it in “Zero to One” and at 25BIO we believe the 7 criteria outlined in the book in 2014 are equally relevant even today to determine whether a potential investment fits in our investment framework.

• The Engineering Question: Can it create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements?
• The Timing Question: Is now the right time to start your particular business? aka “Product Market Fit”.
• The Monopoly Question: Are you starting with a big share of a small market?
• The People Question: Do you have the right team?
• The Distribution Question: Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your product? Often overlooked in biotech investing but phenomenal success requires the distribution question to be understood and mapped.
• The Durability Question: Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years into the future? This might seem unimportant in therapeutics with patent protection and long development timelines but it is in fact highly relevant to understand if the technology will still be relevant at launch. Also a no brainer for health tech.
• The Secret Question: Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don’t see?