I would fault the Startup School organizers for this. They are creating a community that is catering largely to people who are young, talented, but not experien

I would fault the Startup School organizers for this. They are creating a community that is catering largely to people who are young, talented, but not experienced. They need to be educating people about how to avoid the pitfalls and scams of the startup world as well as about how to succeed. Instead, they bring scummy fast talkers and put these people up on the stage as ideals. Not only is that teaching the next generation of entrepreneurs to be scummy fast talkers, but it's setting up these kids (and many of them are kids) to look up to and follow people like this. It's setting them up to be taken advantage of, or to become abusers themselves. Like any guru, pg only pimps the upside. He has a lot of good things to say, but at the end of the day it's basically self-help, water cooler wisdom, and motivational speaking for beginning entrepreneurs. He's not going to tell you about the filthy underbelly. He's not going to tell you that a good 20% of the people in the startup world have a diagnosable psychosis. Psychopathy, narcissistic personality disorder, and bipolar disorder are the most common. He's not going to tell you that startup stock is basically worthless, and that if you're about to vest you are probably about to be fired unless you are in the "inner circle." He's not going to tell you that the game is rigged hugely in favor of the already-connected.