Subversion with 1517
By 1517 Fund
Subversion with 1517Apr 30, 2018
033. $50K Investments in Ideas/R&D: Danielle Talks Invisible College
The Invisible College is an idea/R&D stage investment program that 1517 is launching this summer and fall to support founders who would rather build than go to school in the fall. To be considered for the Invisible College, you must:
* Be in North America
* Have at least 1 member of your team with no undergraduate degree
* Plan on working full-time on your company
Learn more at 1517fund.com/post/invisible-college
Apply at 1517fund.com/take-action
032. 1517 at Home: Alex Gladstein on Why Bitcoin Matters for Human Rights.
Alex Gladstein joins 1517 Fund for a 1517 at Home conversation about how Bitcoin protects human rights, its applications around the world, and the coming death of cash that totalitarian and authoritarian regimes world over want to accelerate.
Alex is the Chief Strategy Officer of the Human Rights Foundation and the Oslo Freedom Forum and the co-author of The Little Bitcoin Book.
To request an invite to a future 1517 at Home conversation, visit 1517fund.com/at-home.
031. 1517 at Home: Ryan Kulp on Fitness for Hackers, Mindset, and Accountability
Ryan Kulp is a self-taught developer, marketer, musician, founder of Fomo and Fork Equity, and the author of Fitness for Hackers. He joins a live audience of the 1517 Community to discuss how the hacker mindset can be applied to fitness, nutrition, and how he stays accountable to constant learning in his personal development.
Mentioned during the conversation:
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Indistractible by Nir Eyal
- Switch by Chip and Dan Heath
- Nick Winter
- Ryan's Twitter
- Ryan's personal website
- Fitness for Hackers
If you would like to join as the live audience during a future 1517 At Home, please request an invite to a future session here.
030. 1517 at Home: Samo Burja on Why Civilizations Collapse
There are at least 12 identifiable Dark Ages in the recorded history of human civilization. Although we are all fascinated with the idea of the collapse of civilization, have we considered why civilizations actually collapse?
Join Samo Burja, founder of Bismarck Analytics and research fellow at LongNow, to explore the causes behind civilizational collapse and how people like yourself can stay ahead of the curve. You can follow Samo on twitter @samoburja.
Suggested readings from Samo:
- “Annoyance or Armageddon?”
- “Intellectual Dark Matter”
- “On the Loss and Preservation of Knowledge”
- “Institutional Failure as Surprise”
Suggested Book: 1777 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed
029. 1517 at Home: Byrne Hobart on the Mimetic Theory of Bubbles
Why do economic bubbles happen? Historically, theorists have proposed competing theories like the efficient market hypothesis, the easy money theory, and a “heroes and villains” theory. In this workshop and roundtable discussion we explored the mimetic desire theory of bubbles. Based on Rene Girard’s theory of mimetic desire, the mimetic theory of bubbles states that bubbles arise not from copying behavior, but from copying desire.
Byrne Hobart (@byrnehobart)is a finance and technology analyst and writer. His career spans working as an investment analyst at large-scale hedge funds and as a research provider to digital marketing, strategy, and business development at media conglomerates and startups. His writing and research interests cover economic history, technology trends, the startup industry, and applied finance. He has been cited and quoted across business and technology publications like Stratechery, Techcrunch, NPR, and the New York Times. His newsletter is at diff.substack.com.
This is part of the 1517 At Home series of live workshops. You can request an invite at 1517fund.com/at-home.
028. Updates! New Podcast, New Channels, New Content Coming Here
We give some updates for our subscribers on our new podcast, Founders First, what we'll be doing on this podcast soon, and some new distribution channels we have.
027. Physics for Poets: Frederick Turner on Healing the Divide Between Science and the Arts
He joins Subversion to discuss how to heal the divide between science and the arts through metaphor, poetry, and understanding the philosophical foundations of this divide.
026. Mark Lutter on How and Why to Invent Your Own Charter Cities
Visit medium.com/1517 for show notes and additional info on this month's episode.
025. Devon Zuegel on NIMBYism, YIMBYism, and the Life of Great Cities
024. Jason Brennan on When You Can Violently Resist the Government
The conditions under which you can defend yourself from state actors are exactly the same as the conditions under which you can defend yourself from private actors.
In other words:
"Self-defense is the same for everybody."
023. Balaji Srinivasan on Voice, Exit, and Earning Money Pseudonymously
You can find a video of his talk on YouTube under "Balaji Srinivasan at the 1517 Assembly."
022. Rene Girard, Mimetic Theory, and Christianity with David Gornoski
“By using media to expose unjust persecution of scapegoats, we can build energy to look for alternative solutions to sacrifice. And those alternative solutions from sacrifice are actually what make science progress.”
Resources mentioned:
David's YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/DavidGornoski
The Key to Move from Imitation to Differentiation: hrfloridareview.org/magazine/magazine-archives/item/683-the-key-to-move-from-imitation-to-differentiation-how-mimetic-theory-unlocks-the-workplace
021. Thiel Fellow Josh Sakhai on Bootstrapping, Raising VC Pre-Launch, and the Value of Media
Josh Sakhai is the cofounder and CEO of Ephemeral Tattoos and a 2018 Thiel Fellow. He joins Subversion to discuss how he’s raised millions of dollars before taking his product to market. We also discuss how to fund your company without giving up equity.
Some key takeaways:
Fundraising is always hard.
Exhaust as many resources for free money as you can. Even consider universities that you don’t go to.
Talk to mentors and friends. Warm intros will be a lot more powerful than cold outreach.
Stay SUPER-organized. When did you first talk to the investor? Who introduced you? How warm are they? Do you need to follow up with them? When was the last time you spoke?
Media is less important than you think. It will mostly just make you feel bad about yourself.
Recommended resources:
Venture Deals, by Brad Field and Jason Mendelson
Blogs:
Alex Dispol - Techstars NYC - alexiskold.net
Mark Suster - Upfront Ventures - bothsidesofthetable.com
020. The Truth About Angel Investors with Greg Schroy
019. Thiel Fellow Micah Green on Building a Robotics Company and Moving To Austin
018. Marie Schneegans on Starting a Company in Europe and Doing Business Abroad
017. Joe Thomas of Loom on Building a Consumer Product, Pivoting, Launching on ProductHunt
016. How to Find Out What People Will Pay For with Shriya Nevatia
Shriya studied Computer Science at Tufts University and got into UX Design through Human Factors Engineering, the General Assembly UX Design course, and the social entrepreneurship program Project Breaker. She did UX Research at the Tufts Center for Engineering Education and was a UX Intern at Pegasystems. She was the first employee at TenXList, later called Assembled, where she led UX Design for 4 product launches. Over the past 3 years, she's taught a 1-hour "Intro to UX Design" workshop at 10 hackathons for high school and college students.
015. Tam Pham on How to Land Your Dream Internship & Network (Even If You Aren't Qualified)
014. Nick Arnett on Starting in a Technical Industry With Little Expertise
013. Thiel Fellow Tom Currier on the Future of Regional Transit
012. Nick Arnett on Being Taken Seriously as a Young Person & Starting Up in the Midwest
011. Shastri Mahadeo on Founding a Tech Company with Zero Tech Experience
Shastri joins us to discuss how he started Union Crate from a background that was decidedly non-technical, non-startupy, and non-prestigious.
010. Max Lock on the Perks of Being a Solo Founder
009. Janett Liriano on How to Combat Loneliness As a Founder or Dropout
008. BONUS. Happy Graduation! How to Make Sense of the Real World
This special bonus episode features 1517 Fund cofounder Michael Gibson.
007. Thiel Fellow Dylan Field on Dropping Out, Hiring, and Finding a Cofounder
006. Double Shot: How Should You Contact Investors You Don't Know?
005. Double Shot: How Can You Find Angel Investors, and What Should You Look For?
004. Double Shot: What Do Early Stage Investors Look For?
In this week's installment of Subversion: Double Shot, Michael Gibson discusses how early stage investors think about product, team, and market.
For a detailed explanation, check out the Anti-Pitch Playbook: medium.com/1517/a-1517-anti-pitch-playbook-683f70ffa85c
Get in touch with us at 1517fund.com/take-action.
003. Double Shot: How Should You Interact With Your Board?
In this episode of Subversion: Double Shot, Danielle discusses how successful startup founders interact with their boards and how working with your board is a great opportunity to step up as a leader.
002. Double Shot: How Should You Split Equity and Roles?
In this conversation, 1517 Fund cofounder Michael Gibson discusses how to split up equity between team members and how to determine roles in the early stages of the company. We also cover major mistakes young founders often make and how to avoid them.
Subversion and Double Shot are productions of 1517 Fund. 1517 Fund supports companies led by young founders with an emphasis on dropouts, opt-outs, and those who have never been to school. To learn more about working with us, visit 1517fund.com/take-action.
001. The Rational Irrationality of the Past
For this inaugural episode, we speak with Professors Peter Leeson and Joe Henrich, two experts at making sense of the seemingly senseless.
Peter Leeson is an economist at George Mason University and the author of several books on economic explanations of weird, odd, or unusual practices like piracy and human sacrifice. His most recent book, WTF?!: An Economic Tour of the Weird, takes a look at rational agent explanations for trial by ordeal, “preowned wife sales,” and other weird cultural practices.
Joe Henrich brings a slightly different perspective to the table. He is an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University who looks at how different cultural practices lend themselves to human evolution and social cooperation. His most recent book, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter, breaks down how cultural practices work as a “collective brain” to help ensure the success of a society or subculture.