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I don't really see it as a complaint. I'm just mirror-ing what I hear from a lot of people I went to school with; I work at a startup now and I love it. But I k

I don't really see it as a complaint. I'm just mirror-ing what I hear from a lot of people I went to school with; I work at a startup now and I love it. But I know that to attract the "ivy league" talent, or any talent for that matter, it is ideal to appeal to what they know. And frankly, I think there is more than enough "wealth" distributed amongst VC funds to subsidize some portion of a kid's student loans for a year or two. Is that really that much to ask? I just want more of my former classmates to be in technology, because they are really smart, and their talents get wasted at high frequency hedge funds and investment banks. So how do you get them? That's what I'm trying to answer; passion is a big part of it, but some people need a hook or starting point.

jmm 16y ago
This is a bigger issue than simple exposure. Students studying finance/econ at Ivy League schools are on a track that starts early (our author, I assume, applied directly to Penn's Wharton School). The expectations and goals start in high school then, sometimes earlier. It's hard to get away from those expectations and pressure, and students emerge at the end of the conveyor belt onto Wall Street before they even know it, ready to earn their "seven in seven" (a milly in seven years). I think the bigger deal here is talking about start-ups as a viable career option all around (cultural shfit?), and encourage kids (high school and college) to experiment while in school, since risk is relatively low and time is readily available for most. A better system of on campus incubator/meet-up programs would be a nice complement, too.
- azeemansar 16y ago
  VERY much agree with this; why didn't I have a Sequoia-backed high school startup program? VCs/angels are the ones with the money to support this; forget about the gov't doing it, that's bound for disaster. And maybe these do exist somewhere, maybe in SF. Great point; I'll talk about this more in a follow-up post someday. (BTW, I didn't go to Wharton, I studied math and physics @ Penn, with full intention of becoming a research professor)
deleted 16y ago
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potatolicious 16y ago
> "passion is a big part of it" Right, and having known a lot of the "Wall Street" type engineers in college, I'm not sure if I really want them in my field. Yeah, they're smart and bright (you kind of have to be in those environments), but I know more than a few who went into engineering position at major investment banks - soul-crushing, mind-numbing work that it is solely because of the compensation. Maybe this is me being too startupy-self-important, but that speaks to a complete lack of passion, that you're willing to take on the IT equivalent of coal mining, where the only real upside to your job is the gigantic paycheck. On this side of the divide I'd rather have people who place an utmost importance in the, well, work of their work - someone who will take a high-paying, rewarding position over a ludicrous-paying soul-crushing job. This isn't some justification to pay people less - if we can sweeten the pot for new grads I'm all for it, but I'm not sure I really want to attract Wall Streeters to our side of the industry.
- azeemansar 16y ago
  Agree with a lot of what you're saying, but not all of it; I want whatever it takes to build amazing new companies that change the world, I don't really care who's doing it, as long as more phenomenally smart people are.
  - potatolicious 16y ago
    I disagree immensely - there's a certain mindset and culture that has contributed to the high-tech society that we see today. IMHO it is championed and built by people who care immensely about changing the world with their skills for the better, oftening making great personal sacrifices for their vision - this is a poor fit for someone who is demonstrated himself to be purely a gun-for-hire. Phenomenally smart people spam people too, scam people also. Just because you're smart doesn't mean I want to work with you ;) There's a certain alignment of goals and values that has to happen, and I don't think that can work with the demographic you're talking about.
    - azeemansar 16y ago
      Eh, can't agree with you here; too many obvious examples to the contrary. A lot of people realize their entrepreneurial streak later in life, I'd like to bring that moment of realization earlier and better institutionalize it as a career path, that's all. "gun-for-hire"; I mean, we're talking about 22 year old kids at the end of the day right? heh

jmm 16y ago

This is a bigger issue than simple exposure. Students studying finance/econ at Ivy League schools are on a track that starts early (our author, I assume, applied directly to Penn's Wharton School). The expectations and goals start in high school then, sometimes earlier. It's hard to get away from those expectations and pressure, and students emerge at the end of the conveyor belt onto Wall Street before they even know it, ready to earn their "seven in seven" (a milly in seven years). I think the bigger deal here is talking about start-ups as a viable career option all around (cultural shfit?), and encourage kids (high school and college) to experiment while in school, since risk is relatively low and time is readily available for most. A better system of on campus incubator/meet-up programs would be a nice complement, too.

azeemansar 16y ago
VERY much agree with this; why didn't I have a Sequoia-backed high school startup program? VCs/angels are the ones with the money to support this; forget about the gov't doing it, that's bound for disaster. And maybe these do exist somewhere, maybe in SF. Great point; I'll talk about this more in a follow-up post someday. (BTW, I didn't go to Wharton, I studied math and physics @ Penn, with full intention of becoming a research professor)

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

potatolicious 16y ago

> "passion is a big part of it" Right, and having known a lot of the "Wall Street" type engineers in college, I'm not sure if I really want them in my field. Yeah, they're smart and bright (you kind of have to be in those environments), but I know more than a few who went into engineering position at major investment banks - soul-crushing, mind-numbing work that it is solely because of the compensation. Maybe this is me being too startupy-self-important, but that speaks to a complete lack of passion, that you're willing to take on the IT equivalent of coal mining, where the only real upside to your job is the gigantic paycheck. On this side of the divide I'd rather have people who place an utmost importance in the, well, work of their work - someone who will take a high-paying, rewarding position over a ludicrous-paying soul-crushing job. This isn't some justification to pay people less - if we can sweeten the pot for new grads I'm all for it, but I'm not sure I really want to attract Wall Streeters to our side of the industry.

azeemansar 16y ago
Agree with a lot of what you're saying, but not all of it; I want whatever it takes to build amazing new companies that change the world, I don't really care who's doing it, as long as more phenomenally smart people are.
- potatolicious 16y ago
  I disagree immensely - there's a certain mindset and culture that has contributed to the high-tech society that we see today. IMHO it is championed and built by people who care immensely about changing the world with their skills for the better, oftening making great personal sacrifices for their vision - this is a poor fit for someone who is demonstrated himself to be purely a gun-for-hire. Phenomenally smart people spam people too, scam people also. Just because you're smart doesn't mean I want to work with you ;) There's a certain alignment of goals and values that has to happen, and I don't think that can work with the demographic you're talking about.
  - azeemansar 16y ago
    Eh, can't agree with you here; too many obvious examples to the contrary. A lot of people realize their entrepreneurial streak later in life, I'd like to bring that moment of realization earlier and better institutionalize it as a career path, that's all. "gun-for-hire"; I mean, we're talking about 22 year old kids at the end of the day right? heh