Ep. 13: Michael Gibson on Learning from Peter Thiel, Backing 19-Year Old Vitalik Buterin and Self-Education as the Path to End the Great Stagnation

Niklas speaks with Michael Gibson, co-founder and General Partner at 1517, a VC firm that backs dropouts, renegade students & deep tech scientists at the earliest stages.Michael is the author of the book “Paper Belt on Fire - The Fight for Progress in an Age of Ashes”, coming out on November 8, 2022 (pre-order on Amazon).Michael dropped out of his philosophy PhD program and was then picked by Peter Thiel to run the now legendary Thiel Fellowship Program from Day 1. With no traditional VC background, Michael then founded 1517 to find young entrepreneurs willing to leave the traditional paths to build the next great thing.One such renegade entrepreneur Michael backed early was Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, whom he noticed early to be a voracious self-learner who taught himself not only the necessary coding and math but also to speak Mandarin Chinese.In this wide-ranging conversation, we learn about the failures of the higher education model and science funding ("the paper belt" from NYC, Washington to Boston), and "The Great Stagnation" in technological progress starting in 1971.Michael talks about the notion of the "frontier", a place where you can go to if the established institutions are corrupt and favor insiders over outsides, to do it all differently. In American History, the frontier was the West.The new frontiers now seem to be the internet, the crypto/blockchain movement, and charter cities. We invite you to join us at the frontier to build the industries of the future together on Roatan, Honduras, a beautiful Caribbean island:Prospera Healthtech Summit, September 23-25, 2022Prospera Edtech Summit, October 28-30, 2022Prospera Fintech Summit, November 18-20, 2022Niklas on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NiklasAnzingerInfinita Fund Website: https://infinitafund.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/Z4H6UjbubK This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.infinitacitytimes.com