azeemansar

New York City, NY - IAC Mobile (http://www.iac.com)

We're hiring a few iOS and backend software engineers to work on new mobile ventures in a very startup-y environment.

Email me for more info: azeem.ansar@iac.com

ahh, this book looks like a wonderful primer; thank you

Eh, can't agree with you here; too many obvious examples to the contrary. A lot of people realize their entrepreneurial streak later in life, I'd like to bring that moment of realization earlier and better institutionalize it as a career path, that's all.

"gun-for-hire"; I mean, we're talking about 22 year old kids at the end of the day right? heh

Oh, I misunderstood what you said; apologies.

And I don't know if you're right; I work at a startup, and my search was almost exclusively relegated to VC-backed companies; in fact, manyt of my friends at startups went through a similar thought process. Given that, I would imagine it would work?

Everyone is an entrepreneur, some just need more help than others, that's all I'm suggesting.

That's a cool idea! I don't know if it works with that timing, and those constraints, but that's such a cool idea, just conceptually.

Agree with a lot of what you're saying, but not all of it; I want whatever it takes to build amazing new companies that change the world, I don't really care who's doing it, as long as more phenomenally smart people are.

But you didn't straight out of college, which is my point.

I am in the same boat as you.

Heh, thanks Greg. I may have not expressed it clearly, but when I say "compensation", I mean something that compels the talent you're hiring away from other industries. I think something like student loan subsidies could be very doable for a VC fund with hundreds of millions of dollars in capital. It sends a strong and serious signal IMO.

I think that's what it's really about, the messaging. It's just easier to market the names of a lot of these VC funds and the experience/track record/millions of $s that come with them, than it is to market their portfolio cos. It's a better hook; and on the other side of it all, venture funds SHOULD care about developing junior talent, and actively building the next generation of founders, entrepreneurs, etc etc. I just can't possibly imagine how any of this ends up being a bad thing.

VERY much agree with this; why didn't I have a Sequoia-backed high school startup program? VCs/angels are the ones with the money to support this; forget about the gov't doing it, that's bound for disaster. And maybe these do exist somewhere, maybe in SF.

Great point; I'll talk about this more in a follow-up post someday. (BTW, I didn't go to Wharton, I studied math and physics @ Penn, with full intention of becoming a research professor)

I disagree, I know plenty of students who just need that initial push.

Also, anyone who has worked at a startup at a junior level knows equity is usually meaningless, and you're lucky if you're getting more than a few bps after a certain point.

I don't really see it as a complaint. I'm just mirror-ing what I hear from a lot of people I went to school with; I work at a startup now and I love it. But I know that to attract the "ivy league" talent, or any talent for that matter, it is ideal to appeal to what they know.

And frankly, I think there is more than enough "wealth" distributed amongst VC funds to subsidize some portion of a kid's student loans for a year or two. Is that really that much to ask?

I just want more of my former classmates to be in technology, because they are really smart, and their talents get wasted at high frequency hedge funds and investment banks. So how do you get them? That's what I'm trying to answer; passion is a big part of it, but some people need a hook or starting point.

interesting stuff!