Re:Thiel's college dropout plan scrutinized by '60 Minutes'
by cj on Sunday May 20, 2012 @08:26PM
(#4000686)
I was a finalist for Thiel's 20 under 20 program last month (i was rejected). During interviews, I met the other finalists and current fellows who dropped out of school for this program 1 year ago.
The two main problems I saw:
* Their projects were much more academic than entrepreneurial. About half of the fellows are working on very technical projects like making better CAD software, robotic bioautomation, microorganisms to solve global warming, etc. Many seem like they'd be better served in academic environments
* Most of the current fellows do not seem self-sustaining, which may become problematic at the end of their fellowship
IMO it's a good program for the few that are working on startups and need some cash to be able to drop out of school, but I worry that it's doing a disservice to the academic oriented fellows.
The two main problems I saw:
* Their projects were much more academic than entrepreneurial. About half of the fellows are working on very technical projects like making better CAD software, robotic bioautomation, microorganisms to solve global warming, etc. Many seem like they'd be better served in academic environments
* Most of the current fellows do not seem self-sustaining, which may become problematic at the end of their fellowship
IMO it's a good program for the few that are working on startups and need some cash to be able to drop out of school, but I worry that it's doing a disservice to the academic oriented fellows.