Michael Gibson and Danielle Strachman, co-founders of 1517 Fund, join the show to discuss their rebellion against higher education, why universities stifle creativity, why IQ doesn't correlate with innovation, and how betting on "misfit toys" is the way to go—plus we explore Girardian mimesis, the perishable nature of creativity, the laziness of pessimistic storytelling and MORE!

I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack.

Important Links:

Show Notes:

Why 1517 Fund Rebels Against Higher Education
Giving Individuals a Shot
“It’s cool to be building stuff, it’s not cool to be a Thiel Fellow”
The ‘ATM Founder’ and ‘Rich Too Early’ Syndrome
The Power of Predictive Character Traits
Flipping Credentialist Thinking
"How do we become Spielberg? How do we do something truly great?"
Simple Memes and Powerful Narratives
Avoiding a Monoculture of Misfits
The Incestuous Universities Scene
Choosing Your Own Path
People Contain Multitudes
Michael and Danielle as World Emperor and Empress

Books & Essays Mentioned:

A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age; by Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman
Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions; by Todd Rose
"A Gift for My Daughter"; by Harry Browne (Full text available here)
Paper Belt on Fire; by Michael Gibson
The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation; by Jon Gertner
The Right Stuff; by Tom Wolfe
The Status Game; by Will Storr
The Two Cultures; by C.P. Snow
What Works on Wall Street; by Jim O'Shaughnessy
White Mirror: Stories; by Tinkered Thinking
Zero to One; by Peter Thiel
The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley; by Jimmy Soni
Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar; by Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman
How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World; by Harry Browne

White Mirror: Stories

Mentioned by

Mentioned in 1 episodes

The AI-powered Podcast Player