How to spot the next Facebook, by the man who spotted the first Facebook

In 2004, Peter Thiel became the first outside investor in Facebook.

More than a decade on and his $500,000 has turned into millions.

This week, during a discussion at London's JW3 cultural centre with historian Niall Ferguson, Thiel advised those looking to spot the next Facebook to "always aim for a monopoly".

According to Thiel, the more investors a business has the more likely it is to be over-hyped. Essentially, potential investors should focus on businesses with few competitors:

Capture a small market and grow it over time. Facebook went from zero to 60 per cent market share in ten days.

More: 11 years ago someone called Mark Zuckerberg appeared on TV to talk about something called 'the Facebook'