We scout the future LeBrons of tech
slingshotahead.com
slingshotahead.com
Beyond that, the premise seems flawed. Engineers do not function like athletes. They do not need to be prepared early for a peak that will occur in their twenties and may not last very long. Their performance cannot be easily plotted on a graph or measured deterministically and that's not for a lack of executives trying to do so for decades now. As far as I am concerned a sufficiently talented and motivated tech sector employee can achieve "LeBron" level distinction in their field even if they start in their thirties.
I wish all the best for the teenagers involved, and I deeply hope that nobody exploits their potential lack of life or professional experience.
I also think it indicates our education systems' general inability to handle kids who are significantly outside the norm, leading them to pursue their education outside of them.
IMO these things that get kids to skip college is neither good nor bad, but depend a lot on these kids aspirations; if they want to go work in research, then that pipeline is still very much interested in credentials and a body of work (which is unsurprising, given how competitive it is), but if these kids are more interested in the engineering side of things in industry, then this is probably good for them.
Though it's worth caveating that immigration systems are still exceptionally interested in credentials, so you can only really skip them if you're in the US already.
Is there much evidence that someone who was great at tech as a teenager goes on to be good at tech in a career? Some do, of course, but some flame out too (especially given the pressure of being labelled 'gifted' or a 'prodigy'). It'd be interesting to see if this business lifts up some kids and turns them into amazing engineers and founders, or if it piles on more pressure and causes fewer of them to go on to great careers.
Almost all ambitious teenager wants to make money at some point.
In fact this is the sort of thing that should have existed a long time ago.
If employers don’t want to hire teenagers at a junior level, they certainly can’t hire a teenager at a senior level at a FAANG company, they would already be starting their own company, should they leave.