4 ms·

Woah, fancy bumping into an ex-student - on HN no less. Do you have any survival advice? Something you wish your younger self knew? Exam season is approaching..

by _xander 12y ago

Woah, fancy bumping into an ex-student - on HN no less. Do you have any survival advice? Something you wish your younger self knew? Exam season is approaching...

nicholasdrake 12y ago
haha what's your degree? i was pure economics with a focus on econometrics..
- _xander 12y ago
  Ah - I'm qualitative. Studying Government
  - nicholasdrake 12y ago
    i only did one essay module in my entire time at lse (psychology lol) and i hated having to learn all the references haha so no advice. how are you finding lse? it's funny how the most social place on campus is the library lol what brings u to hn? u a programmer?
    - _xander 12y ago
      Nah, I wouldn't call myself a programmer. I'm just 'technically curious' and enjoy the conversation found on hn. I might try and find work in tech consulting or security later on. References can indeed be a bitch, although you can get away with just a name and date for the exams. I'm enjoying LSE - although studying here has meant very different things at different times. My first 4 or so terms were a bit too social and I'm now taking the work more seriously (and finding it's somewhat fun). I'm definitely in a bit of a work bubble at the moment, so the library is totally my social hub.
      - nicholasdrake 12y ago
        cool cool. yeah hn is great for a certain type of perspective on the world that it's hard to get elsewhere.. i suppose it's the hacker mentality lol well this is kinda random but my best friend and i are looking to apply to yc, our idea is 'A new asset class: Human capital. By paying for a students university education who in return give back a percentage of their annual income (probably developing world) we allow investors to make long-term bets on specific industries and countries. Anyway our first draft of our yc application is here , it will be great if you can take a look and give some feedback... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224487 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224487
        _xander 12y ago
        Yup I’ve given it a look-over. Coincidentally, a friend is also applying to YCombinator later this year so I’m aware of the process. Let’s compare Seldon to the financing structure of Make School (see: https://www.makeschool.com/admissions https://www.makeschool.com/admissions). It seems to me that your idea has three unique selling points: 1) it can cover the cost of going to any university, 2) % repayments are lower and last much longer and 3) student repayments become a tradable asset class. This has pros and cons. Pros: students have total control about where they want to study, return can be much higher and more kids get an education. Cons: students are incentivized to make expensive choices, education is commoditized, return is much slower (you might not break even for decades) and ‘human capital’ (as an unavoidably opaque financial product) is high risk. I think your biggest obstacle will be overcoming volatility and opacity – you’ll need to prove that the candidates you finance will provide good return on investment. What is it about Seldon that means they can offer a student loan a traditional Chinese bank cannot? Maybe adopt some of the strategies Make School and YCombinator use – a rigorous (and prestigious) application process, guidance, relationship building, sense of community, commercial nouse ect. I wouldn’t sell the idea as a cold-hearted asset class at the start and I certainly would change the name – it undermines the true value of your project. Make human capital a little more…human? Besides, tradable asset classes only really emerge once a financial product is big and established enough to be traded. Other points: • 2% seems too low? (I’m not a numbers guy) • This business would not work in the UK (~50% of students never pay back the full amount they borrow…so no financial incentive to use Seldon) • Top US schools usually cover all their students financing needs – so not too much of a market there unless you want to grab higher-risk candidates. (MBAs are the BIG exception – probably some good opportunities there). • Highlight who you both are - your past achievements and work (because it’s good). • Take your private contact info off of the website (it’s in the public domain, yo). • I like the basic idea – but you need to be more conscious about the fact you’re dealing with 18 year olds and not, say, crude oil.

by _xander 12y ago

Woah, fancy bumping into an ex-student - on HN no less. Do you have any survival advice? Something you wish your younger self knew? Exam season is approaching...

nicholasdrake 12y ago

haha what's your degree? i was pure economics with a focus on econometrics..

_xander 12y ago
Ah - I'm qualitative. Studying Government
- nicholasdrake 12y ago
  i only did one essay module in my entire time at lse (psychology lol) and i hated having to learn all the references haha so no advice. how are you finding lse? it's funny how the most social place on campus is the library lol what brings u to hn? u a programmer?
  - _xander 12y ago
    Nah, I wouldn't call myself a programmer. I'm just 'technically curious' and enjoy the conversation found on hn. I might try and find work in tech consulting or security later on. References can indeed be a bitch, although you can get away with just a name and date for the exams. I'm enjoying LSE - although studying here has meant very different things at different times. My first 4 or so terms were a bit too social and I'm now taking the work more seriously (and finding it's somewhat fun). I'm definitely in a bit of a work bubble at the moment, so the library is totally my social hub.
    - nicholasdrake 12y ago
      cool cool. yeah hn is great for a certain type of perspective on the world that it's hard to get elsewhere.. i suppose it's the hacker mentality lol well this is kinda random but my best friend and i are looking to apply to yc, our idea is 'A new asset class: Human capital. By paying for a students university education who in return give back a percentage of their annual income (probably developing world) we allow investors to make long-term bets on specific industries and countries. Anyway our first draft of our yc application is here , it will be great if you can take a look and give some feedback... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224487 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224487
      - _xander 12y ago
        Yup I’ve given it a look-over. Coincidentally, a friend is also applying to YCombinator later this year so I’m aware of the process. Let’s compare Seldon to the financing structure of Make School (see: https://www.makeschool.com/admissions https://www.makeschool.com/admissions). It seems to me that your idea has three unique selling points: 1) it can cover the cost of going to any university, 2) % repayments are lower and last much longer and 3) student repayments become a tradable asset class. This has pros and cons. Pros: students have total control about where they want to study, return can be much higher and more kids get an education. Cons: students are incentivized to make expensive choices, education is commoditized, return is much slower (you might not break even for decades) and ‘human capital’ (as an unavoidably opaque financial product) is high risk. I think your biggest obstacle will be overcoming volatility and opacity – you’ll need to prove that the candidates you finance will provide good return on investment. What is it about Seldon that means they can offer a student loan a traditional Chinese bank cannot? Maybe adopt some of the strategies Make School and YCombinator use – a rigorous (and prestigious) application process, guidance, relationship building, sense of community, commercial nouse ect. I wouldn’t sell the idea as a cold-hearted asset class at the start and I certainly would change the name – it undermines the true value of your project. Make human capital a little more…human? Besides, tradable asset classes only really emerge once a financial product is big and established enough to be traded. Other points: • 2% seems too low? (I’m not a numbers guy) • This business would not work in the UK (~50% of students never pay back the full amount they borrow…so no financial incentive to use Seldon) • Top US schools usually cover all their students financing needs – so not too much of a market there unless you want to grab higher-risk candidates. (MBAs are the BIG exception – probably some good opportunities there). • Highlight who you both are - your past achievements and work (because it’s good). • Take your private contact info off of the website (it’s in the public domain, yo). • I like the basic idea – but you need to be more conscious about the fact you’re dealing with 18 year olds and not, say, crude oil.