I always love reading Erik Torenberg’s thoughts because he’s wondering about the same problems I am, proposes solutions that are similar to the ones I’m thinking about, and (this is the crucial difference between us) actually works on solving them. He’s one of only two writers who make me say “yes, that’s exactly what I’ve been arguing to anyone who will listen!” when he describes problems and solutions (the other writer is Rohit from Strange Loop Canon).
Erik’s latest piece discusses various obstacles to getting more talented people into becoming founders. I love his analysis. One theme in his proposed solutions is to reduce friction and make it more of a default path for the smartest people. But how do we make this the default path? I think the simplest, most-obvious way to do this is to recruit people straight from the most prestigious universities to start startups. If you don’t compete with McKinsey, it’s too late. The trick would be to start a company that specifically recruits future founders, gives them a salary and health insurance, and lets them build new startups from scratch that would be a subsidiary of your new company (and give them 50% equity in the subsidiary). This is a trillion dollar idea and it’s mind-boggling that no one has done this yet. I wish I could convince someone to give me a bunch of capital and try this.