<p>OK, here's some reverse thinking. The Thiel Foundation will offer 20 $100K fellowships to stop going to college and pursue their innovative technology projects: Thiel</a> Fellowship</p>
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This fellowship will encourage the most brilliant and promising young people not to wait on their ideas, either. The Thiel Fellows will change the world and call it a senior thesis. The Thiel Foundation will award 20 people under 20 years old cash grants of $100,000 to further their innovative scientific and technical ideas.
<p>^ I was wondering the same. I don’t think anyone smart enough to have a great idea would be stupid enough to turn over the idea. I am sure it must be all spelled out in a legal agreement.</p>
<p>After a summer job in the tech industry last summer, the company offered my son a full-time job at about $75k a year and stock options, and encouraged him to not return to college for his senior year. Their schtick was that “none of the great tech innovators” finished their degrees. This un-scholarship idea reminds me of that thinking, which of course as parents we saw as fatally flawed. Luckily, S considered long and hard and decided that the tech industry would still be there in June after graduation ;).</p>
<p>^ The company that suggested such a thing was wagging that golden umbrella over your son’s head. Those that take such an offer become vunerable to the slave like mentality of these companies. Good to know that todays kids are thinking twice about such things.</p>
<p>This is “The Social Network.” If you saw the movie, in real life, these are the guys with the suits. It certainly worked out for them with Mark Zuckerberg. I don’t think they require Bill Gates :)</p>
<p>If I were your son, I probably would have seriously considered that position if it weren’t for the fact that they said “none of the great tech innovators” finished college. It probably was a great job offer, but nothing turns me away and makes me ignore people more than fundamentally flawed logic.</p>
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<p>I’m pretty sure it’s the sponsor. I highly doubt anyone would be generous enough to offer $100,000 for a potentially multi-million, maybe even multi-billion dollar idea and let it walk out the door.</p>
<p>My whole take on this though is that if your idea really would be that successful, you’d probably already have more than enough conviction to drop out to pursue that innovation even without this grant.</p>
Well, to his parents’ great dismay, he did seriously consider it. In fact, it could have been characterized as a “minor battle”. I recognize that that was a great offer; better than many college graduates receive even with a degree. But he was a rising senior in an aerospace engineering degree program, and what really are the chances that someone who drops out of college ever goes back to finish their degree? We still think having that piece of paper is important (not the least because we have an investment in it: $$$$).</p>
<p>…but I do wonder about the opportunity he gave up. Guess we’ll never know…</p>
<p>And agree with all who say that anyone who could qualify for this un-scholarship would likely be able to successfully promote their innovative idea even without the award.</p>
<p>So this is effectively the same thing as all of the “start up incubators” that have popped up over the last few years (recent hot trend in the tech industry)…places like Tech Stars, Y Combinator, Excelerate Labs, etc. Usually the way these guys work is that they provide the capital for an equity stake in your company…for $100K they’re probably taking a substantial %. Although, Thiel is pretty reasonable…in 2004 he invested 500K, as the first investor in facebook, for only 5% of the company.</p>
<p>What these guys do is generally provide a small amount of capital (usually $100K or less), however, the real value in these places is the mentorship that they provide. These places usually have extremely successful entrepreneurs that provide day-to-day guidance on strategy, execution, etc. </p>
<p>Getting capital is easy…most of us could go out right now with a semi-good idea and easily raise a few millions to get it off the ground (trust me i work with VCs and incubators on a daily basis)…these guys do add some great value though. </p>
<p>That said, if I were a student, I would complete my studies and work on my startup at the same time by going and getting funding from another one of these incubators :).</p>
<p>My son had a similar experience of being offered a job between sophomore and junior year, after a summer internship. He did another internship the next summer, and then interviewed for a number of companies in the fall of senior year. The important thing, regarding jobs, is that by staying in school, he could choose which company to work at (versus the “slavery” someone else mentioned), and chose the one he interned for that second summer, where he is probably happier than if he had taken that first offer. And, the BS is a platform for graduate studies, if these kids ever want to teach.</p>
<p>That said, if an undergrad has an idea that he (passionately) wants to develop, there is nothing wrong with taking a year off (“dropping out”)to do so, whether through this program or not. It is true that many might never go back. But over the years, there are many ways to get a college degree.</p>
<p>Our son struggled with the decision, and as parents, we could see both sides. He made his decision and is happy with it. But I could also understand if he had done things differently.</p>
<p>The important concern with this sort of thing would seem to be exploitation of bright, but inexperienced, young people, who do not yet know how to protect themselves and their own ideas.</p>
<p>College isn’t always a good fit for highly creative individuals.</p>
<p>From my observation, more and more college assignments are graded by computer. The result is that creativity and original thought is penalized. It’s depressing to find out that you have to do things in exactly one way-- the way it’s expected-- in order to succeed. New approaches…new discoveries…LOST in our acquiescence to efficiency. </p>
<p>I don’t view this challenge as a $100K scholarship to drop out of college, but as a celebration of innovation. There is no stipulation that a student can’t get a degree part-time, through distance ed and credit-by-exam (CLEP, DSST, ACE approved courses).</p>
<p>I am eager to see who gets chosen for the awards and what they come up with!</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that with this kind of opportunity there will be some takers. I know that college isn’t for everyone so its good that there is a fellowship for someone who has a strangely clear sense of what they want to do. I know I couldn’t do it because I needed to go to college to grow. Like everyone, I want to see what kind of young people who take up this fellowship and the ideas that they come up with. </p>
<p>I think the Thiel fellowship is a great opportunity. </p>
<p>I agree with SGP. There is a world out there with young entrepreneurial students who would jump at this opportunity. What do they have to loose? </p>
<p>Put yourself in the shoes of those types of student. You drop out of college or postpone attending. And, in return, you get this awesome exposure to the world of business that includes meeting with famed entrepreneurs and investors, building a name for yourself, and learning how to build a company, manage a team, and create value out of nothing. What you will get in a year or two in terms of connections, experience and expertise, top MBA grads spend a couple hundred thousand dollars just to get their foot in the door. </p>
<p>But, what if your startup fails? Okay. Go back to school. Or, sail the Atlantic. It doesn’t matter. It’s becoming more accepted in American colleges for students to take gap years and pursue nontraditional paths. Some colleges are friendlier than others to students who do. If your company goes bust (which is probable with early-stage companies), you’re a 22 year old college dropout with plenty of options. </p>
<p>P.S. About equity: To put things in perspective, a typical VC firm will take 1/3 of your company in return for their investment (non-seed round). Theil seems like he’s taking the role of an angel investor (seed-round investor), so expect his equity to be much less.</p>