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This speaks to me against Peter Thiel's "20 under 20" program as it all seems to come down to lack of maturity and experience (and inflated ego).

by latch 15y ago

Alex3917 15y ago
I think this says more about entrepreneurs in the education space than it does about the program. For whatever reason this space seems to consistently attract shady and/or underqualified people. I think the reason is that education is an area where you can't really contribute anything of value unless you are well versed in the science. Because of this it's really easy to snow virtually everyone, from investors and the media to school administrators and teachers. So you consistently see lots of ideas that have zero chance of producing good results that still get lots of funding and even some initial traction.
- biggitybones 15y ago
  I think that's a pretty broad and unfair generalization about entrepreneurs in the education space. It's not exactly a common skillset to be well versed in the science of education and technology, so I won't back down from the unqualified statement. That being said, I've yet to meet these "shady" characters you claim are attracted to the space.
  - Drbble 15y ago
    The shadiness comes in whenever a product is sold to government or generally when the person authorizing the payment isn't spending their "own" money, and when it is hard to measure the delivered value of the product. This is common for education and other government-contract work, and also happens in the private sector (for example, corporate bulk IT services shopping)
- BenSS 15y ago
  I've admittedly seen a lot of 'why' type companies in the education space, but I think it's more the lack of familiarity than an intent to snow people. At KinderTown we do have actual teachers working for us, and even though I've been reading a ton on education topics myself there's an amazing amount of things to learn. It's a much harder space than it looks like at first.
- yummyfajitas 15y ago
  I think the reason is that education is an area where you can't really contribute anything of value unless you are well versed in the science. As far as I'm aware, the #1 education startup was created by someone who was poorly versed in the "science" of education. He seems to be improving things with science now, but that's a fairly recent thing.
  - Alex3917 15y ago
    "As far as I'm aware, the #1 education startup was created by someone who was poorly versed in the 'science' of education." If you're talking about Khan Academy, they're a non-profit not a startup.
    - yummyfajitas 15y ago
      I don't see how that changes things, unless you believe "underqualification" only matters for people with a profit motive.
      - Alex3917 15y ago
        The difference is that Khan would be underqualified if he were trying to do something innovative, but he's not. He's just making a bridge technology, a collection of mostly mediocre content that's designed to be moderately useful until something better comes along. There's no way a for-profit could get funded if this were their goal, at least not if they were upfront about it. Plus even if it's not the greatest site ever, at least it serves a purpose and he's not actively trying to scam people.
        yummyfajitas 15y ago
        The lectures are fairly standard, the exercise scheduling system he's attempting to build is not. While I've criticized him for not being ambitious enough (Khan often stresses he doesn't want to replace teachers), he is building far more than just video lectures. Also, he had several funding offers from VC's, so your assertion about what VC's might fund is incorrect.
tatsuke95 15y ago
This is the first thing I thought reading this: maybe it's not such a great idea to tell kids (yes, kids) to drop out of school and start a company. Will anyone actually see this as a failure of the "Thiel Fellowship"?
spindritf 15y ago
Judging a whole program by one potential failure seems unfair too me, especially in a field where failure is so common.
- aboyeji 15y ago
  and necessary... Education is the worlds biggest problems and opportunities right behind healthcare. People risking everything to make the world a better place shouldn't be denigrated like this. Their failure means there is more for someone to learn from.
dudeguy999 15y ago
There's something to that. Not every older Roman emperor was successful. But almost all of the emperors that took the throne before 20 were disastrous. There are exceptions, of course.

This speaks to me against Peter Thiel's "20 under 20" program as it all seems to come down to lack of maturity and experience (and inflated ego).

by latch 15y ago

This speaks to me against Peter Thiel's "20 under 20" program as it all seems to come down to lack of maturity and experience (and inflated ego).

Alex3917 15y ago

I think this says more about entrepreneurs in the education space than it does about the program. For whatever reason this space seems to consistently attract shady and/or underqualified people. I think the reason is that education is an area where you can't really contribute anything of value unless you are well versed in the science. Because of this it's really easy to snow virtually everyone, from investors and the media to school administrators and teachers. So you consistently see lots of ideas that have zero chance of producing good results that still get lots of funding and even some initial traction.

biggitybones 15y ago
I think that's a pretty broad and unfair generalization about entrepreneurs in the education space. It's not exactly a common skillset to be well versed in the science of education and technology, so I won't back down from the unqualified statement. That being said, I've yet to meet these "shady" characters you claim are attracted to the space.
- Drbble 15y ago
  The shadiness comes in whenever a product is sold to government or generally when the person authorizing the payment isn't spending their "own" money, and when it is hard to measure the delivered value of the product. This is common for education and other government-contract work, and also happens in the private sector (for example, corporate bulk IT services shopping)
BenSS 15y ago
I've admittedly seen a lot of 'why' type companies in the education space, but I think it's more the lack of familiarity than an intent to snow people. At KinderTown we do have actual teachers working for us, and even though I've been reading a ton on education topics myself there's an amazing amount of things to learn. It's a much harder space than it looks like at first.
yummyfajitas 15y ago
I think the reason is that education is an area where you can't really contribute anything of value unless you are well versed in the science. As far as I'm aware, the #1 education startup was created by someone who was poorly versed in the "science" of education. He seems to be improving things with science now, but that's a fairly recent thing.
- Alex3917 15y ago
  "As far as I'm aware, the #1 education startup was created by someone who was poorly versed in the 'science' of education." If you're talking about Khan Academy, they're a non-profit not a startup.
  - yummyfajitas 15y ago
    I don't see how that changes things, unless you believe "underqualification" only matters for people with a profit motive.
    - Alex3917 15y ago
      The difference is that Khan would be underqualified if he were trying to do something innovative, but he's not. He's just making a bridge technology, a collection of mostly mediocre content that's designed to be moderately useful until something better comes along. There's no way a for-profit could get funded if this were their goal, at least not if they were upfront about it. Plus even if it's not the greatest site ever, at least it serves a purpose and he's not actively trying to scam people.
      - yummyfajitas 15y ago
        The lectures are fairly standard, the exercise scheduling system he's attempting to build is not. While I've criticized him for not being ambitious enough (Khan often stresses he doesn't want to replace teachers), he is building far more than just video lectures. Also, he had several funding offers from VC's, so your assertion about what VC's might fund is incorrect.

tatsuke95 15y ago

This is the first thing I thought reading this: maybe it's not such a great idea to tell kids (yes, kids) to drop out of school and start a company. Will anyone actually see this as a failure of the "Thiel Fellowship"?

spindritf 15y ago

Judging a whole program by one potential failure seems unfair too me, especially in a field where failure is so common.

aboyeji 15y ago
and necessary... Education is the worlds biggest problems and opportunities right behind healthcare. People risking everything to make the world a better place shouldn't be denigrated like this. Their failure means there is more for someone to learn from.

dudeguy999 15y ago

There's something to that. Not every older Roman emperor was successful. But almost all of the emperors that took the throne before 20 were disastrous. There are exceptions, of course.