The Origins of the Teal Fellowship

The podcast explores how the Teal Fellowship was created by Peter Teal, a controversial libertarian billionaire, as an alternative to higher education. Michael Gibson, who helped start the fellowship, was hired by Teal's firm despite knowing little about finance. Teal's dissatisfaction with colleges, which he saw as breeding conformity, led him to consider starting his own university. When that idea didn't materialize, the concept of paying people not to go to college and instead work on startups was born. The Teal Fellowship was launched, offering $100,000 grants to young innovators who agreed to skip college for two years.