4 ms·

I think the tech/startup industry has a large affect on a lot of people's thinking, especially at a young (high-schoolish) age. The startup ideas pushed by pg,

I think the tech/startup industry has a large affect on a lot of people's thinking, especially at a young (high-schoolish) age. The startup ideas pushed by pg, and the success that people like Zuckerburg and Jobs have had, have shown that success doesn't have to mean wearing suit. This influence will grow as technology grows deeper ingrained in our lives. Take myself. I went to an elite (Canadian) boarding school, where the idea of success was largely seen to be Wall Street/Business/Politics. About 60-80& of my grad class went to get their Commerce/Business undergrads. I easily could have too. I was not a nerd, more of an all-rounder. I was captain of my hockey, soccer and rugby teams. I acted in plays, went to debate competitions, took the hardest math/sciences courses I could. Kids like me, especially kids like me from my school, usually went to a prestigious university and eventually ended up in managements/business/politics. I chose what is probably the nerdiest/least prestigious university in Canada. Why? Paul Graham, and cause they have the best engineering program in the country. Seriously. I know that sounds like some corny hero worship shit, but his essays almost single-handedly convinced me that I needed to "Stay Upwind", get a technical degree, and start my own company. The infatuation with entrepreneurs inspires like the Apolo program probably did 50 years ago. It's good for the community.

gyardley 15y ago
I can see UW (I'm assuming) being the nerdiest, but the least prestigious university in Canada? It was well-thought of when I started there in the mid-90s. I would've picked Laurentian or Nippissing or some other Northern Ontario school for 'least prestigious'.
- jjmaxwell4 15y ago
  Your right, its not the least prestigious, but its nowhere near most other large universities in terms of clout (except within CS/the tech scene).
  - jarek 15y ago
    Must not mock "elite boarding school" and "your" and "its"...
potatolicious 15y ago
> "I chose what is probably the nerdiest/least prestigious university in Canada." Nerdiest for sure, but I'll object to "least prestigious". Sure, old money prefers Queens, or UofT - and you're right that UBC, McGill, etc have more clout within Canada. That's the operative keyword. Waterloo's main strength is not how well it's regarded within its own country (most people are unaware of its engineering and CS reputation), but rather its reputation abroad. I work in the US now, and practically no one has heard of any of the big Canadian universities. University of Toronto... that's probably in Toronto, right? McGill? shrug Waterloo is one of the few Canadian universities that has a near bulletproof reputation outside of the country, so I'd consider it far from low-prestige. In any case, I want to raise a second point: > "the success that people like Zuckerburg and Jobs have had, have shown that success doesn't have to mean wearing suit" I think the lesson is deeper and more important than just this. I think the more important lesson (and I hope one that catches on) is that success can come from creating and disrupting things. I think one of the most disappointing trends in recent history is the concentration of success on people whose main skill is playing the system. Our society's collective adoration (or more recently, mild hatred) on bankers and investors is proof of this. When I went through school, I saw many talented engineers heed the siren call of Wall Street. To me, it's a tremendous waste of talent - all of these smart people could be creating things, disrupting staid, complacent industries. But instead they were inventing new and improved derivatives and speeding up trading to squeeze the most out of the existing system as they can. I for one hope that the very public success of people like Jobs and Zuckerberg drives home to some people the worthwhileness of creation. Hopefully we can stem the flow of talent into finance and bring some people back onto the side of, well, building shit.
abbasmehdi 15y ago
Man, I grew up in Canada too (kind of), and totally bought into success = suit ideology. Went into economics, then switched to engineering (UBC). I came across PG's essays <1 year ago, and it was life changing to say the least. I often tell my American wife that you don't go to a party in Canada and say you're an entrepreneur, because that translates to something between unemployable (permanently unemployed) and/or some kind of a small time crook like a used car chopper. She does not believe me when I tell her that for new grads from our engineering program the most sought after company to work for was BC Hydro – the gas and power utility company, as an Engineer In Training. Maybe it’s just a BC thing, where most of the money is imported from China or the US, I have no idea, and had no idea.

gyardley 15y ago

I can see UW (I'm assuming) being the nerdiest, but the least prestigious university in Canada? It was well-thought of when I started there in the mid-90s. I would've picked Laurentian or Nippissing or some other Northern Ontario school for 'least prestigious'.

jjmaxwell4 15y ago
Your right, its not the least prestigious, but its nowhere near most other large universities in terms of clout (except within CS/the tech scene).
- jarek 15y ago
  Must not mock "elite boarding school" and "your" and "its"...

potatolicious 15y ago

> "I chose what is probably the nerdiest/least prestigious university in Canada." Nerdiest for sure, but I'll object to "least prestigious". Sure, old money prefers Queens, or UofT - and you're right that UBC, McGill, etc have more clout within Canada. That's the operative keyword. Waterloo's main strength is not how well it's regarded within its own country (most people are unaware of its engineering and CS reputation), but rather its reputation abroad. I work in the US now, and practically no one has heard of any of the big Canadian universities. University of Toronto... that's probably in Toronto, right? McGill? shrug Waterloo is one of the few Canadian universities that has a near bulletproof reputation outside of the country, so I'd consider it far from low-prestige. In any case, I want to raise a second point: > "the success that people like Zuckerburg and Jobs have had, have shown that success doesn't have to mean wearing suit" I think the lesson is deeper and more important than just this. I think the more important lesson (and I hope one that catches on) is that success can come from creating and disrupting things. I think one of the most disappointing trends in recent history is the concentration of success on people whose main skill is playing the system. Our society's collective adoration (or more recently, mild hatred) on bankers and investors is proof of this. When I went through school, I saw many talented engineers heed the siren call of Wall Street. To me, it's a tremendous waste of talent - all of these smart people could be creating things, disrupting staid, complacent industries. But instead they were inventing new and improved derivatives and speeding up trading to squeeze the most out of the existing system as they can. I for one hope that the very public success of people like Jobs and Zuckerberg drives home to some people the worthwhileness of creation. Hopefully we can stem the flow of talent into finance and bring some people back onto the side of, well, building shit.

abbasmehdi 15y ago

Man, I grew up in Canada too (kind of), and totally bought into success = suit ideology. Went into economics, then switched to engineering (UBC). I came across PG's essays <1 year ago, and it was life changing to say the least. I often tell my American wife that you don't go to a party in Canada and say you're an entrepreneur, because that translates to something between unemployable (permanently unemployed) and/or some kind of a small time crook like a used car chopper. She does not believe me when I tell her that for new grads from our engineering program the most sought after company to work for was BC Hydro – the gas and power utility company, as an Engineer In Training. Maybe it’s just a BC thing, where most of the money is imported from China or the US, I have no idea, and had no idea.