{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"1517 Fund: The Maverick VC Betting on Teens to Outbuild Ivy Leaguers","description":"In this episode of the Something Ventured podcast, I spend time with Danielle Strachman and Michael Gibson, the people behind 1517 Fund.  1517 is a venture capital firm that defies Silicon Valley\u2019s fixation on elite credentials from Stanford, Harvard and the like. Their paths to venture capital are anything but typical. Danielle shares how her 20 years in alternative education, from founding a tutoring company to launching a San Diego charter school rooted in homeschooling principles, shaped her belief in lifelong learning for all. Michael, a former philosophy PhD \u2018dropout\u2019, recounts how he joined Peter Thiel\u2019s orbit through the Seasteading Institute and helped launch the Thiel Fellowship, which famously paid young innovators to skip college. Together, they explain how their time at the Thiel Foundation inspired the 1517 Fund\u2014named after Martin Luther\u2019s 1517 theses, a nod to challenging modern \u201cindulgences\u201d like college diplomas. We unpack the flaws in traditional education, from the \u201chigher education bubble\u201d and soaring tuition costs to the growing acceptance of gap years and autodidacts. Danielle and Michael discuss how 1517 Fund bets on non-degreed, often teenage founders tackling ambitious tech challenges, with standout investments like Luminar (autonomous driving sensors that IPO\u2019d in 2020), Lambda Labs (now a GPU cloud computing leader), and Positron (AI inference chips). Michael also explains the title of his book Paper Belt on Fire, a critique of failing institutions\u2014from universities to banks\u2014that rely on outdated \u201cpaper\u201d authentication. We wrap up by exploring AI\u2019s game-changing potential, especially for young founders pushing the frontiers of knowledge. 1517 Fund 8-Bit Capital Danielle on X Michael on X Kent on X ","author_name":"Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/somethingventured.us","html":"