I love getting a solid cold email or DM from founders!
No need for an intro to 1517.
Some things will make your message standout and get a response (faster than others)๐งต:
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Entitlement is unbecoming in fundraising and dating. I canโt tell you how many times I want to tell someone that they clearly donโt understand consent and that they are coming off as predatory. This is a cold text pitch from this morning.
Building a startup is really really hard. Donโt do it because youโre running away from something (like school or a corporate job) but because you are pulled towards the mission of serving something else. This is what sustains motivation.
Used to test for this when I ran the Thiel Fellowship.
Him: What do you do?
Me: I run a non-profit program for teens in STEM.
Him: *Clearly looking for capital and looks like he's smelled a fart* Ends conversation and moves onto the next target.
Anyone who actually inquired
If someone asks you โwhat do you do?โ within seconds of meeting you โ donโt be annoyed. Smile. Youโve just identified a transactional player. Instead, give them the lowest status answer. Then drop your highest IQ insights for the rest of the conversation. This breaks brains.
Was 7 years into a relationship when my bf asked for an open relationship. Should have played it like this wife โ instead I cried daily for a year. Silly me!
As the founding director of the Thiel Fellowship, it's incredible to see that our program, spearheading massive cultural change about what it takes to succeeded, has gone from being scoffed at by the masses to honored as one of the best accelerators in the world.
As an example, someone who cheated during a Thiel Fellowship finalist round (on a scavenger hunt of all things) is now facing potential time in prison for fraud.
It was an automatic out for us at the fellowship but others spent hundreds of millions of dollars to learn the same