When PayPal founder and tech investor Peter Thiel first beckoned young people to drop out of college and become entrepreneurs, the alternative he offered was pretty controversial, Thiel Foundation CEO Alana Ackerson says.
About 100 college-age people applied in 2011 to join the first group of 20 awarded the Thiel-led foundation’s Thiel Fellowship, which comes with $100,000 and a support network of mentors to help the ex-students turn their creative projects into startup companies.
