Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
Thiel Fellowship upped the stakes this year.
$100,000 → $200,000. 2 Years.
These are the 15 names under the age of 22 you're going to want to watch.
From Anchorage, AK to Hong Kong, Tokyo to Germany, Miami to Colombia, Luxembourg to Waterloo, the Thiel Fellow Class of 2025 are disrupting biotech, hardware, AI, crypto, & more.
Ferdinand Dabitz @FerdiDabitz
Jackson Denka @jacksondenka
Juan Ebrath @RealJPGE
Colton El-Habr
Elias Fizesan @Eliasfiz
Fabian Gruber
Carlo Kobe @CarloWKobe
Jennifer Lin @Jlindig0
Koki Mashita @koki_mashita
Soren Monroe-Anderson @soren_ma
Steven Pang @thewildstevenp
Hooman Reza Nezhad @hoomanrenezhad
Aidan Smith @aidanmantine
Teddy Warner @WarnerTeddy
Sigil Wen @0xSigil
“Per the Roman dictum “corruptio optimi pessima” - the corruption of the best is the worst - higher education is the worst institution we have. For these exceptional fellows, we are providing an alternative,”
Peter Thiel, Chairman of the Thiel Foundation.
DEEP DIVE: How The Thiel Fellowship Created $750B+ In Value | Ethereum, Figma, OYO, Anthropic
“Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply than genius.” - Peter Thiel
Danielle Strachman (@DStrachman), a Founding architect of the Thiel Fellowship, shares the inside story behind the radical program born out of Peter Thiel’s Thiel Foundation - giving $100K to teenagers willing to drop out & build
One of the most consequential programs in history, she shares the impact & second order effects to education, silicon valley, & the world.
Highlights
- $100K Grants → $750B+ In Value
- Outcomes: Ethereum, Figma, OYO, Anthropic, Scale AI
- Fellowship 2.0: 1517, OSV & 776 Fellowships
- Disrupting Education + Zuckerberg’s Secret School
- Alpha School: Next-Gen Contrarian Education
- Why People Think Thiel is “Evil” ?
- Selection: Traits, Anti-Traits & The Famous Question
- The Legacy
- List of Notable Fellows
**At the time of recording we had the figure at $550B. We recently learned Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah was also a Thiel fellow - new $750B figure includes Anthropic's upcoming financing at $170B.
Timestamps
(00:00) Thiel Fellowship
(01:10) $750B+ Outcomes: Ethereum, Figma, Scale AI, OYO, Anthropic
(08:32) The Contrarian Question
(15:00) The Fellowship: $100K, No School, Radical Freedom
(19:00) Media Backlash & Cultural Criticism
(26:45) Cultural Impact & Future Vision
(33:02) Is Peter Thiel Evil?
(37:41) Reshaping Silicon Valley's View of Young Founders
(39:10) Key Traits That Predict Success
(45:10) Founding 1517 Fund: Fellowship 2.0
(52:52) 1517: Funding Dropouts & Sci-Fi Scientists
(55:30) The Rise of Alpha School: AI-Based Education
@William_Blake | @1517fund | @thielfellowship
Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
Welcome 2025 Thiel Fellows!
WHO ARE THEY?
Ferdinand Dabitz, Berlin, Germany - @FerdiDabitz
Ivy is building the world trade bank — a global instant payments platform.
Jackson Denka, Los Angeles, CA - @jacksondenka
Azura is a trading platform that utilizes on-chain rails to enable price discovery for everything from crypto and equities to beliefs and memes.
Juan Ebrath, Bogota, Colombia - @RealJPGE
Phase is a research lab on a mission to unlock whole-body regeneration and make living matter programmable — from healing hearts to regrowing limbs.
Colton El-Habr, Philadelphia, PA
Orbit builds non-invasive neurostimulators that utilize the brain’s existing infrastructure to modulate the body’s autonomic nervous system — an API to the human mind.
Elias Fizesan, Luxembourg - @Eliasfiz
Canopy Labs is building the foundation models to power digital humans that are indistinguishable from real ones.
Fabian Gruber, Erlangen, Germany
Manex AI is developing an AI-powered solution to automate manufacturing processes for dark factories.
Carlo Kobe, Hamburg, Germany - @CarloWKobe
Fizz is developing an AI financial advisor for the pocket of every young adult.
Jennifer Lin, Miami, FL - @Jlindig0
Jennifer’s startup is giving patients with rare diseases accelerated access to new cures with clear indications of efficacy.
Koki Mashita, Tokyo, Japan - @koki_mashita
Aeolus is building the planetary defense system for extreme weather.
Soren Monroe-Anderson, Anchorage, AK - @soren_ma
Neros is a defense technology company building drones critical to a modern arsenal at massive scale.
Steven Pang, Hong Kong - @thewildstevenp
Orbit builds non-invasive neurostimulators that utilize the brain’s existing infrastructure to modulate the body’s autonomic nervous system — an API to the human mind.
Hooman Reza Nezhad, Waterloo, Canada - @hoomanrenezhad
Solcoa Industries is producing the first zero-carbon, American-made rare earth metals at scale.
Aidan Smith, Mountain View, CA - @aidanmantine
Innerphases is developing human-native communication devices that change the way we work and think.
Teddy Warner, Charlotte, NC - @WarnerTeddy
Intempus is equipping robots with emotional intelligence, making them more predictable and easier to understand.
Sigil Wen, Toronto, Canada - @0xSigil
Extraordinary brings the world’s top talent to America’s technology companies.
Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
you know an engineer is cooking when they start chewing on the hoodie strings 😮💨
Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
Card spend on Zurp is now growing 55% month over month
(this month is already >Junes's spend)
Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
BREAKING: the @GetZurp makes a rainbow in your wallet 🤩
Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
Zurp is approaching $1m in deposits after 2 weeks of public beta. Not an annualized number - actual deposits.
What an incredible beginning to the journey!
RT @arpanine: Reminder to use @GetZurp & buy your dog some toys ✨
Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
Pssstt... we're live!
💳 Zurp Card:
8x points on Travel, Gas, Food, Entertainment
1x points on Rent
3x points on Everything else
Build your Credit Score
(no credit check needed)
🏦 Zurp Cash Account:
5.00% APY
Get paid 2 Days Early
FDIC Insured by First Pryority Bank
Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
Here's a story we'll be hearing more versions of: Zurp was about to launch as a DeFi yield startup last year. But Terra/Luna blew up and it pivoted.
Of note: Amy Wu, once of FTX Ventures, is an investor— though check was penned before she joined FTX.
axios.com/pro/fintech-deals/…
Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
Massive Congrats to #MeetOurFund Alum, @yo: Zurp Raises $5M Pre-Seed Round to Launch The Credit Card for Experiences inside.com/s/344890 via @Inside
Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
It's officially out — We raised $5m to launch Zurp 🎉
Why did we start another credit card?
@_Liso_, @AshPanGeek, & I came together with Mastercard to make a new type of credit card that doesn't put people in debt and offers rewards people actually want.
Here's how it works:
Ashish Pandhi 🦁 retweeted
Genius level trolling. He owns a marketing agency. This is amazing marketing for Zurp
Replying to @yo
and if you'd like to download your own metamansion, get a ✨free✨ copy here:
pexels.com/photo/a-modern-ho…
just make sure to leave your metashoes at the door 🫡






















