One might reach that conclusion after reading that The Atlantic has dubbed San Francisco technology entrepreneur Peter Thiel one of its “Brave Thinkers 2011.”
Now along comes a very different guru with a similar-sounding message. Last fall, Peter Thiel, the Bay Area billionaire who helped start PayPal and Facebook, announced that in addition to supporting various libertarian and futurist causes such as “seasteading” and space exploration, he would also offer about two dozen aspiring entrepreneurs $100,000 apiece, over two years, to skip college and try to start a business. “I think it’s best for people to actually try to think about the future and not default to education,” he has said.
Perhaps George Leef will make the list in 2012.