Building A 100+ Year Legacy + Peter Thiel’s Fellowship + Bomb Hiring Questions
28 Aug 2024 (19 days ago)
Alfred Nobel's $266M Legacy
- Alfred Nobel, an inventor who became wealthy after inventing dynamite, bequeathed 95% of his assets to establish a foundation to award individuals who made significant contributions to humanity.
- The Nobel Prize, established over 130 years ago, awards individuals in the categories of peace, chemistry, economics, and literature, with each recipient receiving approximately $5 million.
- The Nobel Prize foundation, currently valued at $612 million, generates a 10.7% return on capital through investments in equity funds and hedge funds.
Competitions vs. Trusts
- Prizes can incentivize innovation and investment, as seen with the Orteig Prize, the X Prize, and the DARPA Grand Prize.
- Competitions like those on Kaggle and the Vesuvius Challenge leverage the expertise of many individuals to solve complex problems.
- The Vesuvius Challenge, funded by Nat Friedman, aims to use machine learning to decipher ancient Greek texts damaged in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Idea: XPRIZE but for companies
- Many companies lack the resources and urgency to develop innovative products internally.
- An "XPRIZE for companies" could incentivize startups to develop specific products with the promise of acquisition and employment.
- A "Milk Money Grant" was created to fund the development of cryptocurrency applications, resulting in numerous submissions and the discovery of talented individuals.
Shaan’s Prize: Win $10K to start a college paper
- A challenge is presented to college students to create a satirical newspaper, similar to The Onion, for their respective campuses.
- The satirical newspaper is proposed as a "sandbox" business opportunity for college students to gain practical skills in entrepreneurship, content creation, marketing, and management.
- Financial support of $10,000 to $15,000 is offered to help kickstart these satirical newspapers on various college campuses.
How Barstool Sports started
- Barstool Sports began as a physical newspaper that was distributed for free.
- The founder wrote the newspaper, initially focused on gambling, under different pen names and distributed it himself.
- Over time, he hired others to help with writing, advertising, and distribution, eventually growing the company into a multi-million dollar enterprise.
Peter Thiel’s contrarian fellowship
- Peter Thiel created the Thiel Fellowship, offering $100,000 over two years to young people under 22 who are willing to drop out of college to pursue their entrepreneurial endeavors.
- The fellowship, which has been running for about a decade, does not require recipients to relocate to San Francisco or have a fully formed business plan; an idea is sufficient.
- Notable recipients of the Thiel Fellowship include the founders of successful companies such as Figma, OYO Rooms, Luminar Technologies, Ethereum, and Loom.
Elon Musks sexy indifference
- Elon Musk donated $2 million to the Vivian Challenge, a project by Daniel Gross and Friedman, as indicated on the Musk Foundation website.
- The Musk Foundation website is described as having minimal design, featuring five bullet points outlining the foundation's support for causes like renewable energy, space exploration, and AI development.
- A LinkedIn profile with no photo, a one-line bio, and a single job experience listed as "26 years owner" is presented as an example of "sexy indifference," suggesting wealth and success.
Interview questions designed to repel and attract
- Elon Musk uses the interview question "Tell me about the toughest problem you've dealt with and how you dealt with those at your last company or project" to quickly filter out candidates who lack real-world experience.
- Jeff Bezos uses the interview question "Are you a lucky person?" to identify optimistic individuals who acknowledge the role of luck in their success while also recognizing their hard work.
- Interview questions can be used to attract individuals who align with a company's culture and repel those who do not, as exemplified by Max Levchin's anecdote about preferring engineers with hobbies other than basketball.
Be a harsh grader of people
- Warren Buffet attributes his success in judging people to having a "tight filter," quickly identifying and dismissing unsuitable individuals while acknowledging his inability to accurately assess the majority within a short timeframe.
- It is viewed as preferable to err on the side of caution by rejecting potentially good candidates to avoid the high cost of bringing the wrong individuals into one's life and work.
- Hiring decisions are often influenced by a desire to be kind or give underdogs a chance, but this approach can lead to unsatisfactory outcomes and complicate situations due to a reluctance to confront mistakes or admit misjudgments.