4 ms·

Can we remove Thiel Fellow from the title ? It's kind of annoying that startups are being defined by which investor did or didn't write a cheque. Founders des

Can we remove Thiel Fellow from the title ? It's kind of annoying that startups are being defined by which investor did or didn't write a cheque. Founders deserve the credit for their startup's success not the VCs.

anonAndOn 6y ago
While it would be nice to be addressed as a Nobel laureate, I'd actually prefer the title of MacArthur Genius Grant winner. Both named for dead guys whose fortune paid for the award. Go figure.
echelon 6y ago
I think it's remarkable the CEO got an investment at age 17 and made it to an exit. Peter Thiel took a risk nobody else did.
- respondo2134 6y ago
  the "risk" he took is like me claiming credit for a homeless person escaping that terrible situation because I bought him a coffee.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- threeseed 6y ago
  Taking a risk implies that you are going to be personally impacted if everything falls through. Peter Thiel is worth $2.1b and almost all VCs are investing institutional money. So I think it's ridiculous to even mention them in the same breath as founders who are typically working 70+ hour weeks, dealing with immense stress and are poorly paid for an idea that is statistically likely to fail.
aloukissas 6y ago
+1 here. Editorializing is against posting guidelines: "[..] please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize."
FriedPickles 6y ago
> Founders deserve the credit for their startup's success not the VCs. That varies. Often founders are truly independent. Occasionally a founder is a glorified employee of the main investor. In these cases the investor may also bring customers, technology, and/or employees, but the products tend to be less interesting. I only bring it up because it’s an interesting thing I didn’t expect until I participated in SV.
deepnotderp 6y ago
The Thiel Fellowship is not for equity, but is a program.

anonAndOn 6y ago

While it would be nice to be addressed as a Nobel laureate, I'd actually prefer the title of MacArthur Genius Grant winner. Both named for dead guys whose fortune paid for the award. Go figure.

echelon 6y ago

I think it's remarkable the CEO got an investment at age 17 and made it to an exit. Peter Thiel took a risk nobody else did.

respondo2134 6y ago
the "risk" he took is like me claiming credit for a homeless person escaping that terrible situation because I bought him a coffee.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
threeseed 6y ago
Taking a risk implies that you are going to be personally impacted if everything falls through. Peter Thiel is worth $2.1b and almost all VCs are investing institutional money. So I think it's ridiculous to even mention them in the same breath as founders who are typically working 70+ hour weeks, dealing with immense stress and are poorly paid for an idea that is statistically likely to fail.

aloukissas 6y ago

+1 here. Editorializing is against posting guidelines: "[..] please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize."

FriedPickles 6y ago

> Founders deserve the credit for their startup's success not the VCs. That varies. Often founders are truly independent. Occasionally a founder is a glorified employee of the main investor. In these cases the investor may also bring customers, technology, and/or employees, but the products tend to be less interesting. I only bring it up because it’s an interesting thing I didn’t expect until I participated in SV.

deepnotderp 6y ago

The Thiel Fellowship is not for equity, but is a program.