The fellowship launched in 2011 as “20 Under 20”, giving $100,000 over two years to people aged 20 or younger. Thiel told NPR that had Facebook’s founders stayed at Harvard, “that window probably would have come and gone.” [1]
Its own site now says it gives $250,000 to people who “skip or stop out of college” for two years. [2]
WIRED’s 2016 look found a mix: some fellows built valuable companies, others did not, and some went back to school. [3]
His 2014 book Zero to One, adapted in the Journal as “Competition Is for Losers”, argued that durable value comes from building a monopoly on something new. [4]
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