I was a contrarian my whole life. I started working at 14, switched eight schools on two continents, and dropped out of the #1 business college in the U.S. Probably thanks to the example of my father, but being a contrarian feels like the only way to live.

Why would you want to follow the rules when there are none?

But — no matter how I tried, — I never could come up with a legitimate answer to Peter Thiel’s question. One of the downsides of reading smart books when you’re immature is that your head is filled with great ideas you have no idea how to make use of. Looking back, I guess I was simply too young to answer it.

So I decided to fill my head with other people’s answers instead.

After dropping out of college, I launched a YouTube show called “10 Mentors.” I brought together ten people — the smartest and most successful people I could get in touch within Russia — and asked them ten different questions about business, success, and life. That was my education.

Peter Thiel’s question was #9. And it was the most exciting part of the show.

The answers were as different as the people I’ve interviewed. They often sparked insights and new ideas, which I quickly wrote down in my Moleskine notebooks.

I listened to the answers and dreamed, “Someday, I’ll have an answer too.”

After the project ended, I started asking that question every time I met someone interesting. I would have Friday coffee with someone, and casually drop, “So — I love that you talk about your dog, but still — what truth do very few people agree with you on?”

No wonder I didn’t have many friends.

Later, when I created more media projects and started working as Head of Content for an IT startup, I’d make this question an absolute must-have for every interview. I found that the more the guest is impressive, the more inspiring is the answer to Peter Thiel’s Contrarian Question.

I love asking that question. In 90% of cases, it gives me new ideas and food for thought.

But what is it really about?

The Answer Is In The Execution

One “mentor” for my show — a famous entrepreneur, a billionaire who created the biggest electronics retail chain stores in Russia and then had it all taken away from him — refused to answer this question.

“Why not?” I asked.

He looked at me seriously and said, “Because the answer to that question will reveal my next business idea. And I don’t want to talk about it just yet.”

My father — who is an entrepreneur and was the last of my “mentors” for the show — also shed light on the question’s meaning. He was just recovering from his last company going bankrupt at the time of the interview.

When I asked him the question, he responded simply,

“This is a company question and I am not building one now. When I was building Wikimart [the eBay of Russia] back in 2009, my answer to that question was that company. I’ll have a new answer when I’ll be building my next business venture.”

Being Contrarian = Being Innovative

The reason this question is the great starting point for any business is that it sets you apart. All great companies started with a truth few people agreed on.

The idea of creating another smartphone in 2007 seemed preposterous. Nobody wanted to compete with Nokia. And yet, Apple came and introduced the iPhone. Nobody uses Nokia phones anymore.

Creating yet another social media, when Facebook and MySpace were around, and allow people to write, only 140 characters seemed crazy. Yet, Ev Williams stood up and created Twitter.

Sell CDs online? “That’s stupid,” you might have said. But Derek Sivers founded CD Baby and sold it a few years later for 22 million dollars.

The list goes on and on. Any project, any innovation, any breakthrough — they all started as a truth very few people agreed with you on.

More Than Just Business

Although Peter Thiel’s book was about startups, this question is about more than just business.

I’ve interviewed many entrepreneurs on different projects, and most people I’ve asked this question were not entrepreneurs. And they still had the most brilliant and inspiring “truth that very few people agree with you on.”

After several years of asking this question, I’ve discovered that everybody — with no exception — has an answer to this question. We’re born with it.

I can’t tell you why, but everybody is contrarian in one way or another.

This question is hard to answer.

But — if you take the time to contemplate it, it will point you towards your life’s mission like a compass that always points north. For an entrepreneur, it will point towards her next business venture. For the rest of us, it will show what we should dedicate our lives to.