Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
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Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
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Re: Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
#2 "It’s like getting a degree at Berkeley. Okay. It’s not Stanford. You can a complicated story about how you had to do it because your parents had a big mortgage or something. But it’s a hard negative signal to get past."
I agree that YCombinator is head and shoulders above its competitors but is Stanford really considered that much better than Berkeley? Honest question.
Re: Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
#3"It’s like getting a degree at Berkeley. Okay. It’s not Stanford. You can a complicated story about how you had to do it because your parents had a big mortgage or something. But it’s a hard negative signal to get past." I agree that YCombinator is head and shoulders above its competitors but is Stanford really considered that much better than Berkeley? Honest question.
I read it as a joke just playing to the audience (ongoing good-natured rivalry, etc).
It's like when someone really likes reddit. Okay, it's not HN. They can tell a complicated story about how they like cats and populist rage politics, but it's a hard negative signal to get past.
Re: Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
#4"It’s like getting a degree at Berkeley. Okay. It’s not Stanford. You can a complicated story about how you had to do it because your parents had a big mortgage or something. But it’s a hard negative signal to get past." I agree that YCombinator is head and shoulders above its competitors but is Stanford really considered that much better than Berkeley? Honest question.
That quote was the highlight of the class :)
He's not only playing the audience-- In an earlier class (class 3 or so), Peter Thiel justified his views on Stanford vs. Berkeley based on their track record with creating successful companies. Maybe someone can find the exact quote, but he said that between the two, vast majority of successful companies start at Stanford and that he's only aware of 1 or 2 that started out at Berkeley.
Re: Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
#5"It’s like getting a degree at Berkeley. Okay. It’s not Stanford. You can a complicated story about how you had to do it because your parents had a big mortgage or something. But it’s a hard negative signal to get past." I agree that YCombinator is head and shoulders above its competitors but is Stanford really considered that much better than Berkeley? Honest question.
I read it as a joke just playing to the audience (ongoing good-natured rivalry, etc). It's like when someone really likes reddit. Okay, it's not HN. They can tell a complicated story about how they like cats and populist rage politics, but it's a hard negative signal to get past.
> It's like when someone really likes reddit. Okay, it's not HN. They can tell a complicated story about how they like cats and populist rage politics, but it's a hard negative signal to get past.
I see the parallel but your signalling system is rather poor if it penalizes someone for liking reddit.
Re: Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
#6Paul Graham: "$50m companies innovate. Mine did. We basically invented the web app. We were doing complex stuff in LISP when everyone else was doing CGI scripts. And, quite frankly, $50m is no small thing. "
Of course, no one uses CGI now. It's all complex stuff done in LISP. Innovation is amazing, isn't it?
Re: Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
#7The whole Stanford vs. Berkeley... Honestly, if you make anything more of it than the joke it's intended to be, you're wasting time. To be fair, he did joke earlier this quarter about how Stanford is outscoring Berkeley in terms of the value of companies started at each school every year. However, those are jokes. I'm a Stanford student, but I think Berkeley has made incredible contributions outside the field of making-VCs-rich. Fundamental science, counter-culture, and engineering (including tech). I'm sure Thiel thinks so too.
Re: Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
#8"It’s like getting a degree at Berkeley. Okay. It’s not Stanford. You can a complicated story about how you had to do it because your parents had a big mortgage or something. But it’s a hard negative signal to get past." I agree that YCombinator is head and shoulders above its competitors but is Stanford really considered that much better than Berkeley? Honest question.
That quote was the highlight of the class :) He's not only playing the audience-- In an earlier class (class 3 or so), Peter Thiel justified his views on Stanford vs. Berkeley based on their track record with creating successful companies. Maybe someone can find the exact quote, but he said that between the two, vast majority of successful companies start at Stanford and that he's only aware of 1 or 2 that started ou…
Yet Craigslist is filled with "idea guy" ads touting Stanford pedigrees much (much!) more often than Cal.
Re: Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
#9Anyone interested in the actual slides?
Re: Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup - Class 7 Notes
#10"It’s like getting a degree at Berkeley. Okay. It’s not Stanford. You can a complicated story about how you had to do it because your parents had a big mortgage or something. But it’s a hard negative signal to get past." I agree that YCombinator is head and shoulders above its competitors but is Stanford really considered that much better than Berkeley? Honest question.
That quote was the highlight of the class :) He's not only playing the audience-- In an earlier class (class 3 or so), Peter Thiel justified his views on Stanford vs. Berkeley based on their track record with creating successful companies. Maybe someone can find the exact quote, but he said that between the two, vast majority of successful companies start at Stanford and that he's only aware of 1 or 2 that started ou…
With the (rather large) caveat, of course, that the academic caliber of a school isn't dictated by the number of entrepreneurs it produces.