[cowpig]

I'm going to have to question the premise of your question.

I don't believe that the "best" startups resemble cults. I don't think you should feel like you're missing something because you haven't experienced that.

I'd more likely use the word "worst" to describe places with cult-like cultures, because Mr. Thiel and value very different things.

Peter Thiel is a venture capitalist interested in short-term profitability and has a very dog-eat-dog moral framework, whereas I care about long-term sustainability and the net effect of businesses on humankind. I suspect most of us are probably better off thinking more like me and less like Thiel.

That's not to say that I don't see a place for obsessiveness or singular-minded pursuits. Profit-motivated enterprises with that sort of culture are nearly always bad news though, and I even outside of that I'm pretty wary of the sort of tribal mentality that those cultures cultivate.