Xconomy: Thiel Foundation Names New Class of College Dropout-Entrepreneurs
Summary
In 2011, 430 college-age people applied to join the first group of 20 awarded the Thiel-led foundation’s Thiel Fellowship, which comes with $100,000 and a support network of mentors to help the ex-students turn their creative projects into startup companies.The 20 fellows just chosen from that pool include George Matus, a 17-year-old drone designer from Utah; Canadian Cathy Tie, 18, the CEO of a genetic testing startup; Zach Latta, 17, of El Segundo, CA, the executive Director of hackEDU, a nonprofit that supports students who form coding clubs at their high schools; and John Backus, 21, co-founder and CEO of Mountain View, CA-based BlockScore, which helps businesses guard against illegal transactions.“College can be good for learning about what’s been done before, but it can also discourage young people from doing something new—especially when it leaves them in debt,” said Thiel in a statement as the names of the 2015 fellows were announced today.If there’s one common trait among successful candidates for the fellowship, Ackerson says, it’s that they’ve already invented their own jobs by launching a project that engages their skills and their authentic values.The Thiel Foundation has expanded the class size for the fellowship from 20 to 30 young people a year, and applicants can apply any time.