The Thiel Fellowship Finalists Leave S.F. & Head Back to Reality
Released on 06/05/2014
(soft music)
[Narrator] 40 finalists, 20 winners,
100,000 dollars to drop out of school and pursue our dreams.
This, is Teen Technorati.
After a long weekend of lightening pitches
and mentor matches
it's time for us finalists to leave San Francisco,
and head back to reality.
I think that you'll take away from this,
not only the feeling that you're not alone,
but that you have people that you can reach out to
and that will help you achieve your world changing goals.
[Narrator] We've done all we can do.
And now it's up to the judges
to determine who will be receiving
the 20 Thiel Foundation grants.
The Thiel Foundation likes to give grants
to people who are trying to advance
the frontiers of knowledge.
I'm worried the FDA will kill Catherine's creativity.
Catherine's idea for developing modular components
to make powered wheelchairs more useful,
even if that idea doesn't work out,
she's gonna have a whole series
of really impressive things over the course of her life.
Any further assistance you'd like?
No.
No, then have a wonderful week.
Awesome, thank you. Okay.
[Danielle] Let's talk about Darby.
I think she has what it takes to get it done,
just has a lot of work ahead of her.
I was excited about the space, I thought it was neat,
but I just wanted to see more.
Darby proposed a very technical project,
but she's a nontechnical finalist.
[Jonathan] I wanted to feel like it was
more than just an idea she was pitching us,
but something that she was really building
because it's too important to wait on.
Do they have the technical chops that's needed
to move forward socially?
Do we think that the group would be cohesive?
Two years is a long time.
And we all want to feel good about
who we're around for that time period.
Yeah thanks.
Actually. (chuckling)
Oh, sure.
[Danielle] Thomas Hunt.
[Mike] He's trying to solve a really difficult problem,
he cuts to the chase on trying to cure cancer.
[Jonathan] He's actually in labs, doing real science,
learning because he thinks it's important,
rather than because institutions say
that you need to do these things.
[Danielle] David Mace.
I love that he's compiled all this data
on sociopolitical conflicts,
and has developed a predictive algorithm
that the government purchased
because it actually worked.
David actually wants to make the world a better place.
Good luck with everything.
Good luck with you guys. Hopefully, you know.
[Danielle] Alex Koren.
[Mike] Everyone seemed to love him, whether finalists,
our community.
[Danielle] I like him a lot,
but I'm just trying to keep my bias in check.
I think the technology to a degree is there.
[Mike] Our one expert in supercomputing
thinks the processing that he suggests he can bring about
just isn't possible on these devices.
How will he respond to that brick wall when he hits it?
Going back to normal life is always a trip I guess.
[Danielle] Andrew.
I think the DocBot product
is probably a little before its time.
Something like this will happen,
it's an open question whether Andrew's product is the one.
[Danielle] Let's talk about Lucy.
[Mike] The educational game space is very competitive.
Lucy's really strong because she iterates fast,
we've seen her at many hackathons,
each time it's a new idea.
She hacked into her dad's computer
to find its password so she could still play games.
She certainly has a lot of talent.
I really want to talk about Ryan.
[Jonathan] He's infectious,
maybe a little too infectious for some,
but he's built a product that has some traction.
He's a great designer.
Some people thought he was a little too self-promotional
and self-interested.
I'd be curious to see what other ideas he has
other than Finish.
It's less about clipping a company on the short term,
and more about thinking about ideas
across a longer period of time.
I think we have to debate Ryan further.
Anytime I can learn something, and improve,
and take away a message, or a lesson,
it's great and I felt like this weekend
was just lesson after lesson, message after message.
I thought the only thing I would give up college for
would be to be a Thiel Fellow,
because it's such an incredible opportunity,
but like I love my college so much, I love USC.
I understand you don't need a college degree
to change the world,
but a college degree does mean a lot.
I just had a distorted perception coming in to this weekend,
and this kind of cleared a lot of things up.
[Amanda] He just had the winning mentality of like
I'm gonna try and learn, absorb, kind of a sponge.
Take everything in.
I think it was a humbling experience for him,
since he wasn't the technical guy on the team.
[Jonathan] I think if he developed himself
over the next couple years to this
that he could really start
making his own discoveries in the field.
The 100,000 dollars, to be honest,
doesn't factor in to my equation,
because I'd also be leaving theoretically
150,000 dollars on the table if I left USC
and gave up my scholarship there.
[Narrator] Next time the judges decide
which of us get 100,000 grant,
and we decide if we'll take them.
So be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Channel
for the final installment of Teen Technorati.
2014 Thiel Fellowship Documentary Series Teaser
Meet the 2014 Thiel Fellowship Finalists
The LEGO Challenge: Creative Problem-Solving
Getting Over Stage Fright
Tensions Rising: Final Run-Throughs & Pitch Preparations
The Two-Minute Lightning Pitch
The Thiel Fellowship Finalists Go One-on-One with the Mentors
The Thiel Fellowship Finalists Leave S.F. & Head Back to Reality
20 Teens Win $100K: Announcing the 2014 Thiel Fellows
Classical Toddler Music