strange sort of philanthropy

[Azazello1313]

http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/27/peter-thi...-out-of-school/

 

Peter Thiel is starting a new initiative that will offer grants of up to $100,000 for kids to drop out of school. Yes, you read that right. Though that’s not how Thiel puts it. Instead, he calls it “stopping out of school.”

 

The basic gist is that he will fund up to 20 kids under the age of 20 who apply for this grant. His hope, obviously, isn’t to ruin their lives, but instead to find the best minds thinking about big things early in life. This is where true disruption comes from, Thiel believes.

 

And it also solves another problem that many young people face today: crippling debt. Because going to college is so much more expensive than it was even when Thiel was in school, he notes that a lot of kids come out of school having to worry about debt rather than just focusing on doing great things. Thiel hopes to change that.

 

[Delicious_bass]

http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/27/peter-thi...-out-of-school/

Peter Thiel is starting a new initiative that will offer grants of up to $100,000 for kids to drop out of school. Yes, you read that right. Though that’s not how Thiel puts it. Instead, he calls it “stopping out of school.”

 

The basic gist is that he will fund up to 20 kids under the age of 20 who apply for this grant. His hope, obviously, isn’t to ruin their lives, but instead to find the best minds thinking about big things early in life. This is where true disruption comes from, Thiel believes.

 

And it also solves another problem that many young people face today: crippling debt. Because going to college is so much more expensive than it was even when Thiel was in school, he notes that a lot of kids come out of school having to worry about debt rather than just focusing on doing great things. Thiel hopes to change that.

 

 

 

The story doesnt say specifically, but I would assume the criteria/qualifications for earning one of the grants (other than dropping out of school) is to have some sort of business plan, no? Not sure what the costs associated with starting a business are these days, but I would think you could use up $100K rather quickly. Couple that with the number of new businesses/ventures that fail, I am not sure this initiative is all that good of an idea. For the 1-2 kids that may actually turn the money/opportunity into something big, seems likely 18-19 others will end up blowing $100,000 on a failed venture and then have no degree to fall back on when the money is gone. Or, at least, would be headed back to school to finish up on their degree. I would think if Kiel is geniunely interested in finding the "best minds thinking about big things early in life" he could offer the grants without the stipulation that the students drop out. Or offer fewer (but larger) grants so the person could really go "all in" full time after a dream.

 

Perhaps I am misreading his intentions, the story, or both, though

Edited October 20, 2010 by Delicious_bass