Billionaire entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel has built a reputation for identifying transformative companies long before they became household names. Thiel believes exceptional investment returns come from backing businesses that are fundamentally different, not merely better versions of existing companies. His ideas, outlined in his book Zero to One and various interviews, continue to offer valuable lessons for long-term investors. Let us look at some of them:

1. Look beyond numbers and understand the business philosophy

Thiel argues that investors often focus excessively on financial metrics while overlooking a company’s core principles. Businesses built on strong values, a clear mission and sound execution are more likely to create sustainable value over the long run than those chasing short-term gains.

2. Prioritise quality over cheap valuations

According to Thiel, quality should always come before price. Investors should evaluate a company’s balance sheet, cash generation, competitive position and capital allocation before making an investment decision. Strong businesses are better equipped to navigate economic downturns and emerge stronger.

3. Seek companies with durable competitive advantages
One of Thiel’s best-known ideas is that great businesses are often creative monopolies, companies that offer something unique that competitors cannot easily replicate. Proprietary technology, network effects, powerful brands and economies of scale help companies protect their leadership and sustain profits over time.
4. Back businesses that start small but think big
Thiel believes many successful companies first dominate a niche market before expanding into adjacent opportunities. PayPal, for instance, initially focused on a narrow customer base before growing into a global payments platform. Investors should therefore look for companies that establish leadership in a specialised segment before scaling.

5. Think independently, not differently for the sake of it

Being contrarian simply to oppose the crowd is not enough, says Thiel. Instead, investors should develop independent views based on research and conviction. The biggest investment opportunities often emerge where consensus has yet to recognise a company’s long-term potential.

6. Focus on businesses investing for the future

Companies that consistently reinvest excess cash into innovation, research and growth initiatives are more likely to build enduring competitive advantages. Thiel believes firms with strong long-term vision are better positioned to create lasting shareholder value than those focused solely on protecting current profits.

7. Invest with a long-term mindset

Perhaps Thiel’s most important lesson is patience. Rather than spreading capital across dozens of average companies, he advocates concentrating on a handful of exceptional businesses with the potential to compound wealth over many years. Long-term investing, supported by conviction and disciplined research, has been a common thread among many of the world’s most successful investors.

The bottom line

Peter Thiel’s investment philosophy centres on identifying businesses that solve unique problems, enjoy strong competitive moats and possess the ability to compound value over time. While no framework guarantees investment success, his emphasis on independent thinking, business quality, and long-term conviction offers a useful roadmap for investors seeking multibagger opportunities.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

TORONTO — Toronto turned purple this weekend as the city officially declared Aug. 22 and 23 “BTS Weekend,” illuminated its landmark Toronto Sign in the group’s signature color and temporarily renamed a stretch of Yonge Street “BTS Boulevard” to welcome the South Korean superstars for two sold-out concerts.

The seven-member group performed Saturday and Sunday at Rogers Stadium in North York as the only Canadian stop on its ARIRANG World Tour. The shows, supporting the group’s fifth studio album, drew an estimated 100,000 fans across the two nights at the outdoor venue, which has a net capacity of about 50,500 per performance.

City officials unveiled the honorary BTS Boulevard signs on Friday along Yonge Street from North York Boulevard to Finch Avenue. The temporary designation, approved by Toronto City Council, remains in place until Sept. 23. The red-designed signs draw inspiration from the visual branding of the ARIRANG album and tour. After the period ends, the signs are expected to be donated for a community giveaway or related charitable purpose.

The Toronto Sign at Nathan Phillips Square was lit purple on the concert dates, a color long associated with BTS and its global fanbase, known as ARMY. The proclamation of BTS Weekend invited fans to wear purple in celebration.

These civic gestures form part of a broader effort to highlight Toronto’s Korean Canadian community and boost local tourism and business. Destination Toronto, the city’s tourism marketing organization, released customized guides directing visitors to Koreatown, attractions and Korean-owned businesses along the newly designated boulevard. The Yonge North York Business Improvement Area also produced a Korean Vibe Guide mapping the 20 BTS Boulevard signs and nearby restaurants and shops.

The concerts coincided with the Toronto Korean Festival at Mel Lastman Square, adding cultural programming, food stalls and performances that further amplified the weekend’s atmosphere. Local media reported long lines of fans waiting for merchandise starting the day before the shows, with visitors arriving from across Canada and abroad.

“BTS’s heat is lighting up Toronto,” CityNews reported in coverage of the crowds and merchandise demand.

Public transit operators expanded service to handle the influx. Fans were encouraged to use subway and shuttle connections to Rogers Stadium, located on the former Downsview Airport lands. Free TTC rides were offered after the shows with a valid concert ticket from nearby stations. Stadium operators opened early, restricted overnight queuing and designated merchandise sales days to manage crowds at the relatively new outdoor venue.

BTS last performed as a full group in the Toronto area during three sold-out nights in nearby Hamilton in 2018. An earlier appearance came in 2015 at a smaller downtown venue. Planned 2020 dates were canceled amid the pandemic, after which the members completed mandatory military service in South Korea. The ARIRANG tour marks their first major group headline run since the Permission to Dance on Stage Tour of 2021-22.

The current world tour spans dozens of cities across multiple continents and is scheduled to continue into 2027. Toronto’s two nights featured a 360-degree, in-the-round stage configuration that placed the performers closer to the audience. Setlists from the opening night included tracks spanning the group’s catalog, with the shows proceeding despite rainy conditions on Saturday.

Fans and organizers described the weekend as more than a pair of concerts. Merchandise pop-ups in the city saw strong demand for hoodies, light sticks and other official goods. International ARMYs traveled long distances, some reporting journeys of more than 20 hours, to attend. Local Korean businesses along the boulevard and in surrounding neighborhoods reported heightened activity as visitors explored restaurants and shops.

City Councilor Lily Cheng, who introduced the motion for the temporary street co-naming along with a colleague, framed the initiatives as a welcome to the group and its fans while supporting the area’s Korean cultural presence. The motion and subsequent city announcements emphasized economic revitalization and tourism alongside cultural recognition.

Rogers Stadium, which opened in 2025, adjusted operations for the high-demand event. Organizers banned overnight lines for entry, opened gates early and prepared for weather given the outdoor setting. Capacity figures listed on ticketing platforms confirmed the roughly 50,500 net seats available each night after stage configuration.

The combination of official city proclamations, street signage, landmark lighting, festival programming and transit support turned the concerts into a citywide occasion. Visitors and residents alike encountered purple lighting, red BTS Boulevard markers and crowds of fans displaying light sticks and merchandise in the days surrounding the performances.

As the second show concluded Sunday, the temporary signs remained in place for another month, continuing to mark the corridor and guide visitors to Korean businesses. The Toronto Sign returned to its regular schedule after the purple illumination on the concert nights.

For a city that has hosted major global events, including FIFA World Cup matches earlier in the summer, the BTS Weekend illustrated how a single weekend of performances can cascade into broader civic and commercial activity. Fans left with memories of the stadium shows, while local merchants and cultural organizers gained visibility and traffic during one of the year’s highest-profile entertainment weekends in Toronto.

The ARIRANG tour continues its North American and international run following the Toronto dates, with the group’s return underscoring the enduring draw of its music and the organized enthusiasm of its worldwide fan community.

Indore, Pride Hotels is looking to launch its initial public offering (IPO) by December, with the issue size expected to be around Rs 1,000 crore, as the hospitality chain accelerates expansion across leisure, wedding and corporate events and pilgrimage destinations, CEO Satyen Jain said.

“We have opened nine hotels in the last 12 months. This is the ninth in Indore,” Jain said in an interaction with PTI.

The expansion has taken Pride Hotels’ portfolio to 40 properties, including eight owned hotels and 32 managed properties. The company has also signed contracts for another 32 hotels, which are expected to open over the next one-and-a-half to two years, taking its portfolio to about 72 properties.

“Our focus is on four segments — going deep in the markets where we are already present, targeting large wedding and MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition) hotels, entering new leisure destinations and expanding in pilgrimage,” Jain said.

Among these, pilgrimage destinations are emerging as an attractive opportunity, given the strong potential for repeat business.

“Unlike a holiday destination… in pilgrimage, if you believe in that particular God, you will keep going multiple times in a year. So there are a lot of repeat customers,” he said.
Puri, for instance, is seen as a promising market as it attracts both religious travellers and wedding-related business, he added.To support the expansion, the company is also looking to increase the share of owned properties in its portfolio, Executive Director Atul Upadhyay said.

Beyond pilgrimage, Pride Hotels expects leisure travel to benefit from rising per-capita income, better air and highway connectivity and changing consumer preferences. Jain said younger consumers are increasingly prioritising experiences, with the frequency of holidays also rising.

“People are taking much more holidays and its frequency is going up a lot,” Jain said, adding that younger consumers increasingly prefer “creating experiences” over acquiring things.

Against this backdrop of expansion, the company is also preparing to tap the capital markets.

“Pride Hotels plans to launch its IPO by December, with the issue size remaining around Rs 1,000 crore,” Jain said.

The Mumbai-based hospitality chain, which filed its preliminary papers with Sebi in October 2025, received approval to float the IPO in January 2026.

According to the draft papers, the public issue comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 260 crore and an offer for sale of up to 3.92 crore shares by promoters and promoter group entities.

The proceeds will be used to fund capital expenditure towards renovation of existing hotels, repayment of debt and general corporate purposes.

Pride Hotels remains focused on the upscale segment and may launch a boutique upper-upscale brand, Pride Lux, as it looks to broaden its offering.

While the expansion outlook remains positive, rising operating costs are emerging as a concern. Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) S P Jain said gas and electricity expenses have risen 8-9 per cent, weighing on the bottom line.

To contain these costs, the company is investing in wind and solar power as well as energy-efficient equipment. He noted that air conditioning accounts for a major share of a hotel’s electricity consumption and said efficient chillers could help reduce power usage.

Apart from cost pressure, the CMD also flagged licensing as the biggest challenge for the hospitality industry, saying multiple approvals can delay the opening of hotels even after construction is complete.

“Biggest challenge in hospitality is licences,” he said, calling for a more streamlined approval mechanism.

To a query on international foray, Jain said for now, Pride Hotels remains focused on the domestic market and has not signed any overseas hotel. However, the company could explore international markets with significant Indian traveller traffic. PTI

Elevated global bond yields continue to cause concern in the market. Analysts say the US Treasury’s recent move to ease bond yields failed to provide lasting comfort, given surging crude prices and persistent inflation fears. Domestically, the RBI’s hawkish meeting minutes have pushed India’s 10-year yield to a two-month high, driven by local inflation risks and tighter liquidity. Meanwhile, recent services PMI data shows domestic resilience amid an uncertain global environment.

Here are two stock recommendations for Friday:

Jayaswal Neco Industries – Buy | Buying Zone: Rs 100-101 | Stop-loss: Rs 95 | Target: Rs 110

Strong decisive breakout above horizontal resistance at Rs 96 with surging volume. The price has reclaimed all short-term EMAs (20, 50 and 100), and RSI is expanding towards 68, confirming fresh bullish momentum for a continuation towards Rs 110.

(Virat Jagad, Senior Technical Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio)

Alkyl Amines – Buy | Buying Zone: Rs 2,050-2,060 | Stop-loss: Rs 1,975 | Target: Rs 2,250
Clean breakout from consolidation above the Rs 2,000 resistance level on strong volume. Trading safely above all key moving averages (20, 50, 100 and 200 EMA), with RSI strengthening near 66, signalling uptrend momentum towards Rs 2,250.(Virat Jagad, Senior Technical Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

After having been in the investing world for more than 25 years from private banking and investment management to private and venture capital; I have pretty much “been there and done that” at one point or another. I am currently a partner at RIA Advisors in Houston, Texas. The majority of my time is spent analyzing, researching and writing commentary about investing, investor psychology and macro-views of the markets and the economy. My thoughts are not generally mainstream and are often contrarian in nature but I try an use a common sense approach, clear explanations and my “real world” experience in the process. I am a managing partner of RIA Pro, a weekly subscriber based-newsletter that is distributed to individual and professional investors nationwide. The newsletter covers economic, political and market topics as they relate to your money and life. I also write a daily blog which is read by thousands nationwide from individuals to professionals at www.realinvestmentadvice.com.

Homebuyers across the United States now face a significantly longer financial timeline before purchasing a home makes more sense than renting, according to a new analysis from real estate technology company Zillow, which found that a median-income household needs nearly 15 years to both save for a down payment and financially break even on homeownership.

According to Zillow, a household setting aside 10% of the median income needs 8.5 years to reach a 20% down payment on a typical single-family home nationally, followed by another 6.2 years before buying becomes more cost-effective than continuing to rent. Combined, that puts the total national breakeven timeline at just under 15 years, a figure Zillow arrived at by measuring two distinct phases: the time required to save for a down payment, and the additional time needed to recover the upfront costs of homeownership relative to renting.

“Buying a home is a financial commitment measured not just in dollars, but in years,” Zillow wrote in its analysis. “Whether to buy or rent is a complex question that depends on where you want to live and your lifestyle preferences, in addition to your financial situation.”

Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow, said the breakeven timeline offers homebuyers a more complete picture of a housing market than list prices alone can provide. “The common wisdom is that saving early to buy a home is the smart financial move, but the reality is more nuanced,” Ng said. “The breakeven number tells you something about a market that a price tag alone doesn’t.” Ng encouraged prospective buyers to factor that longer horizon directly into their decision-making process. “Buyers should think about not just when they can afford to buy, but how long they’d need to stay before owning makes more financial sense than renting,” she said. “Homeownership comes with equity and stability, while renting offers flexibility and freedom from maintenance bills and emergencies.”

Zillow’s analysis found dramatic variation in breakeven timelines depending on location, driven largely by differences in local rent trends and home price appreciation. In Austin, Texas, a household saving for a down payment reaches the 20% threshold in roughly eight years, faster than the national pace, but then faces an 18-year wait before homeownership becomes financially advantageous compared with renting, a delay Zillow attributed in part to recently declining local rental costs. Miami tells a different story: buyers there spend roughly five additional years saving for a down payment compared with Austin, but reach the breakeven point in about half the time once they do purchase, meaning Miami homebuyers ultimately come out ahead financially roughly three years sooner than their counterparts in Austin.

The report identified purchasing a starter home, defined by Zillow as a property in the bottom third of regional home values, as one of the clearest ways buyers can shorten their overall timeline. On a national level, Zillow found that buying an entry-level home rather than renting a typical apartment cuts the total combined savings-and-breakeven timeline roughly in half, to just 7.2 years.

However, Zillow’s data suggests many buyers remain reluctant to take on properties requiring significant renovation work despite the potential savings such properties often offer. “However, with the cost of homeownership this high, buyers have signaled they do not want an expensive project,” Zillow wrote. According to the company’s research, turnkey homes, those ready for immediate move-in without renovation, sell for 2.9% more than expected, while homes noted as recently remodeled in their listing descriptions sell for 2.2% more than comparable homes without such renovations mentioned. By contrast, fixer-upper homes sell for 14% less than comparable move-in-ready properties. Zillow cautioned that while not every starter home requires renovation, buyers considering a fixer-upper should carefully account for the full cost of ownership, including the likelihood of future repairs.

The current, extended homebuying timeline represents a substantial deterioration compared with conditions before the pandemic. Zillow found that today’s national breakeven timeline runs nearly four years longer than the 11-year wait homebuyers faced back in July 2019, underscoring how significantly affordability has eroded over the intervening years.

Zillow attributed much of the current affordability crisis to a persistent nationwide housing shortage, which the company estimates stands at 4.7 million homes. According to the analysis, metropolitan areas with the largest housing shortages tend to also carry the longest breakeven timelines for prospective buyers. Los Angeles, for example, has the second-largest housing deficit in the country at nearly 345,000 homes, translating into a breakeven timeline of almost 38 years for buyers in that market.

To address the shortage, Zillow has advocated for a range of policy changes aimed at lowering construction costs and encouraging new housing development, including updating local zoning laws to allow for higher-density housing, simplifying municipal permit approval processes, and expanding access to financing options for manufactured homes.

Zillow’s warning arrives as mortgage rates have shown modest signs of easing in recent weeks. Freddie Mac reported Aug. 20 that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage stood at 6.65%, down slightly from 6.67% the previous week. “The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined this week averaging 6.65%,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, adding that Freddie Mac emphasized borrowers can still save meaningfully by comparison shopping among lenders for the best available rate. Separately, Mortgage News Daily reported a daily 30-year fixed rate of 6.77% as of Aug. 21, with the outlet’s Matthew Graham noting that recent bond market volatility was unrelated to the U.S. Treasury Department’s mid-week announcement regarding its expanded bond buyback program, characterizing the earlier market reaction to that news as having been “overdone.”

With economic data expected to pick up significantly in the coming week, including anticipated remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, mortgage rates and broader housing affordability trends are likely to remain closely watched by prospective buyers weighing whether current market conditions justify committing to the increasingly lengthy financial timeline Zillow’s analysis has identified as the new reality facing most Americans looking to transition from renting to homeownership.