Advice for ambitious Stanford students
In 2015, I wrote some notes for a few ambitious Stanford freshmen. This is the second version of that document.
In 2015, I wrote some notes for a few ambitious Stanford freshmen. This is the second version of that document.
This document has been read by 2% (edit Oct 4 2016, 1 week later, now 4.5%) of the freshman class.
A number of students at other schools have managed to find this post. 90% of this post is relevant for any school, and ~10% of it is specific to Stanford.
Questions this answers
What kinds of people should I try and spend time with?
What major should I pick?
Should I take time off?
How to avoid getting ruined by great schools (due to over-validation)
What are valuable ways to spend time
Who is this for?
People who are very ambitious.
This might mean that you want to become president, or that you want to make a ton of money, or that you want to add a ton of value to the world.
This is relevant for any specific type of goal as long as the statement “I am extremely ambitious, almost certainly the most ambitious person I personally know” applies to you.
Ignore political correctness — I talked to a very ambitious woman I know and she noted that in freshman year, she probably would’ve said “Yes, I’m pretty ambitious” out loud, but in her head, she would have been thinking “I’m definitely the top 1–2 most ambitious people I know.” If this sounds like you, then you’re in the right place, too!
Is this just for people interested in startups?
No, it’s for anyone that’s ambitious.
In addition to this document, if you’re interested in startups (at any university, or even not at a university), check out:
What kinds of people should I try and spend time with?
This assumes you are extremely ambitious. In that case, people with the following attributes will be the ones you want to surround yourself with.
It is hard to understate the importance of “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”.
Filter based on the following things
- How ambitious is this person? How determined are they to create something massive? (whether that’s value/wealth/power doesn’t matter this early on, what they want specifically will likely change over time, but the magnitude of how much success they want won’t change as much)
- How energetic is this person? (Energetic looks like asking lots of questions, very curious, doing lots of things, starting lots of projects, trying to meet lots of people — it doesn’t matter what direction their energy is focused on right now, that’ll change, but their level of energy won’t change that much!)
- How good is this person at getting the things that they want?
- How much does this person have a sense of control over their own life, and belief that they will succeed in the things that they want?
- How capable is this person of thinking independently — i.e. doing things that others wouldn’t be super comfortable with? (e.g. skipping lectures if the lectures aren’t super useful to them is one example of this)
- Are they a good person with high integrity?
- How curious is this person / how much of a learning machine are they?
- How fun are they to hang out with? How much do I enjoy spending time with them?
Should I take time off?
- Absolutely. Take a quarter off here and there whenever you want
- Dropping out is different because it implies a high level of commitment — taking money from investors that won’t be happy if you decide to change paths, or even just mentally committing to something before you actually know if it’s likely to work.
- I’ve even heard of someone who comes back to school every 2 years or so for one quarter, who makes money from various websites he has, where he just wants to keep his enrollment status forever and maximize the time length where he gets the benefits of university! Pretty awesome.
When should I take a quarter off?
- Whenever the following statement is true “spending 10 weeks on thing X would be more valuable over the course of my life than being enrolled at school”
- Doing the most valuable thing at any one point allows you to compound the maximum amount of value over your life. Think of investing time like investing money, where compound interest is exceptionally important.
What major should I pick?
If you’re as ambitious as the disclaimer requests, then I would suggest a life of value creation ignoring existing systems. It’s always possible to create value directly, without going through the “system” (i.e. getting a job).
If you know you’ll never get a “regular job”, then know that choosing the major that is most interesting to you is the wisest move. Choosing a major because it is more attractive to employers is a very short term, and is therefore a less wise optimization.
So instead, you should do one of two things.
- Follow your interests, and take the major that is most interesting to you
- Follow your interests, but conclude that college classes aren’t the best way to follow your interests, and take the easiest major possible so that you have the most time for other things
What if I conclude that college classes aren’t the best way to follow my interests?
- In this case, you should probably also be taking lots of time off.
- If you’re bound by your parents, that’s ok. Try and convince them otherwise, and save the tuition money and see if you can find another friend from school who’ll let you live in their dorm room for free.
- If you’re bound because you’re an international student, that’s ok too. Just take the major that’ll be easiest for you, skip all your classes, and you’ll be fine!
One additional requirement: Either, you need to have unlimited/very long personal runway (i.e. supportive parents who’ll let you live with them, or you’re good at making people want to help you and so you know you can live for free with friends at school on a spare mattress in their room, or you have some iPhone apps you built in 10th grade that make you just enough money to pay rent) OR your areas of interest need to have some promise of being valuable to some people/the world.
General worst case scenario if you truly follow your interests and get really deep: You become extremely valuable to anyone starting a company in areas related to these interests, or you develop valuable skills that you can then use to start profitable side businesses online.
Exceptions: International students that want STEM OPT visa extensions. Note, however, the OPT extension isn’t very well suited to doing your own company. The first 12 months of OPT are super conducive to self-employment, but the STEM extension requires all kinds of verification and reporting. So even if you’re an international student who wants to be able to stay here, don’t base your choice of major on this, because it’s not actually that helpful.
When should I declare
Whenever you want. Switching majors is super super easy.
If you’re an international student, you’ll have to declare before you can do a summer internship.
Reader comment: There are benefits to declaring that aren’t disclosed to freshmen super early. For C.S., recruiting lists (if a summer internship is of interest) and well connected faculty advisors can be huge. For me, Jerry has introduced me to former students and also has helped me evaluate companies well based on what I want to learn. I could not have done this with my PMA.
An important mindset shift — stop doing what you “should” do
Everything about the world is arbitrary, and doesn’t need to be followed. (Read Sapiens if this piques your interest).
Most people at Stanford/other school pick a major, graduate in four years, and get a job, likely continue to advance throughout their career, are typically well paid and high status.
If you aspire to these levels of achievement, then it’s fine to accept the paths provided to you.
You don’t have much to lose!
If not, make sure you think about what it is that you want!
Get off the “tracks.” Stop doing “the done things.”
Examples of things that people find more uncomfortable than they should
- Not getting a degree
- Not getting a job straight after college at all
- Not getting a job that other people would respond with “Nice” when you tell them where you work
- Taking a quarter off, just because you want to think some more, and because you think that you’ll get more total value in your life if you save this quarter to be used later on, and don’t use it now
- Quitting an internship half way through when you realize there’s something more valuable you can be doing
- Not doing an internship at all
- Doing a really weird internship
- Skipping lectures
- Not taking the hardest classes in freshman year
- Not being on track for a degree in freshman year
- Getting a PM job because you want to start your own company (While this may be a “good” traditional route, it’s certainly unlikely to be the best, and applicable to the specific company that you end up starting.)
- Etc.
Some of these may seem at odds with each other — the point is to think for yourself. (Thanks JS)
I’m stealing this from Thiel, but basically while most people go with the herd, the most risky thing you can do is to not take the time to think for yourself — about what you want out of life, what has bought you satisfaction in the past, how you can create value for the people around you and the world more broadly, what you want, and what the best ways are to go about getting what you want are.
Reader comment: Not thinking for yourself and evaluating what you want is a cost that only INCREASES as you go through Stanford. The more time you spend pursuing things that aren’t fulfilling to your independent thinking, the more you risk realizing you have not spent your time well later.
How to evaluate whether to work at a big tech company
There is a lot of pressure to work at a large tech company as a CS major (Facebook, Google, Twitter), especially as a freshman. A lot of this pressure results from a desire to prove yourself (to yourself, and others). Working at a large tech company serves as a badge of honor in a lot of computer science circles at Stanford. — AP
Do not choose this ‘credibility’ reason as a reason for working at a large tech company, or any company, for that matter.
Should I attend classes?
Only if it’s the best use of your time.
For most classes, it’s probably not the best use of your time. There’s almost certainly a non-fiction book that could give you better hr by hr value. Many classes at Stanford can be watched at 2x speed since they are recorded — better use of time (check out https://mvideox.stanford.edu/).
Should I care about grades?
No. If you’re extremely ambitious, you should commit to a life of living out of the system, and stop doing things that don’t maximize your value / the value you bring to the world.
A warning — Stanford/other great schools ruin people
Stanford ruins people!
Everyone will love you and love what you’re doing.
It’s very hard to find critique.
It’s very useful to be your own harshest critic, constantly pushing yourself further.
You need to have the highest possible standards for yourself. No-one around you will likely have high enough standards for you. If you find someone with extremely high standards who also creates things, do everything you can to continue to spend time with them!
Reader comment: JS and I became really good friends as a product of having good working styles and ALSO being totally feedback driven. We had to intentionally lay out this system (i.e. we sat down and discussed how to give feedback and why it is important). Find friends who you can do this with and stick with them.
What’s an appropriate standard? Depends on how ambitious you are. I suggest reading the biographies of the greats (Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Gates, Jobs) to provide a benchmark.
The standards you focus on should be your own.
Sources of external validation that are much less significant than some believe:
- Getting into selective clubs
- Meeting _famous investor/person_
- Getting a job at _prestigious company_
- Investment offer from _notable investor_
- _Famous person_ wants to cofound a company with you
Significant external validation: Customers paying large amounts of money or time for products you’ve built.
What classes should I take?
Optimize for these things:
Firstly: How interesting is this topic/professor combination to you?
How do you know it’s interesting to you? What tells you that it’s likely to be interesting to you?
Secondly: How big is the chance you meet someone in this class that you’ll want to stay close with for 60 years?
Relevant factor — what is the interaction mode in the class?
Classes at Stanford where you’ll meet lots of the classmates: anything in the GSB, d.school classes, introsems, and ME410A/B/C with Bill Cockayne.
(AP) Is the teacher someone I want to spend time with and form a relationship with?
Thirdly, if you have to graduate (e.g. Visa issues, parental requirements) and want to do it as efficiently as possible:
How easy is this class?
How much does this class help me graduate?
Stanford classes
Classes at Stanford where you’ll meet lots of the classmates: anything in the GSB, d.school classes, introsems, and ME410A/B/C with Bill Cockayne.
- Take at least one d.school class. The customer development stuff is useful, and you’ll meet your classmates, and they are fun and pretty easy/light on time (if you so desire — there are also people who put tons and tons of time into these classes, that’s not my style though).
- Take as many introsems as possible. I did three, should’ve done way more. (Advice on getting accepted: Email the professor a few weeks before applications, and ask to chat with them. Read up on them, and show your true interest in person, and you should be set.)
- Take a class in the GSB. Yes, it is possible to take GSB classes as an undergrad. Tip: the TAs are the ones who decide who gets in. Also, some classes will be easier than others (i.e. they’re the ones who’ve accepted undergrads in the past). The more you can demonstrate true deep interest, the more likely you are to be able to get into the class.
Here are some cool classes and specific class recommendations:
How should I structure my classes?
Take the most interesting and valuable ones first. Put off all the shitty/time consuming/non-valuable ones till the end.
(One exception: You can, if you want, take a few of the time consuming and non-valuable ones in freshman year when a bunch of other people in your dorm are also taking them, because then you get the fun shared experience of going through the class with a bunch of other people. This becomes much less possible after freshman year).
Stop with that delayed gratification shit that you got so good at in high school! You’re now at Stanford/other great school, which means you have a really good base to capitalize on opportunities. Additional delayed gratification will have much lower returns than the delayed gratification that you used to get into this school (to at least some extent, you delayed gratification to get in).
Should I join a fraternity or sorority?
If, and only if, the people that you admire most / are most likely to want to still be around 60 years from now are the upperclass people in that frat/sorority.
What is the value of a great university?
- Excellent place to meet people
- Great brand
- Hotbed for opportunities
What kinds of people should I be trying to meet?
- Significant others (if you don’t rush, have one friend in each of the sororities/frats, and ask them who the person in their sorority/frat is that you’d get along best with)
- Co-founders
- People you deeply admire
- Friends for life
- (Ton of overlap in the above categories, but that’s how to think about it)
What’s the value of a school with a great brand?
- Allows you to meet people outside of the university
- Make sure to do this while you’re a student!
- Don’t spray and pray — Find people you think you’ll truly connect with, and reach out to them
On the topic of significant others — how to choose who to date
IMO, only date someone if there’s a chance you’ll be with them forever. This is an opinion, reasons for this are basically that the decision is so important, and more data is better to make a better decision, and basically you won’t have enough information regardless, so you might as well try and get as much information on potential people as possible!
Read the following:
http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/02/pick-life-partner.html
http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/02/pick-life-partner-part-2.html
http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/09/marriage-decision.html
Valuable ways to spend time
Spend your time:
- Making things (writing, building websites, making music, whatever — anything that is creation and can be enjoyed by 1+ other person). In the beginning, quantity > quality. Make lots of little things to get practice. Good goal: Make something in 1 weekend that 1 person loves. Repeat 5x.
- Reading books (real books! on Kindle)
- Searching for people that you admire
- Learning about things / exposing yourself to more of the world — in areas where you are deeply interested (can be traveling, can be talking to people and learning from them, etc)
- Self-reflection
- Anything that brings you joy/fun (not: things that are “supposed” to be fun, but don’t actually bring you joy)
I can’t overstate this. All time spent on the above things will be worth it.
Freshman fall quarter
Meet lots of people. This is the easiest time to meet people.
Reader comment: Reach out to upperclassmen. All upperclassmen were super kind to me and willing to mentor when I was upfront about being clueless but ambitious
Specific things that are useful to do
- Find upperclassmen that you get along with well / admire, and make friends with them (asking for advice is an easy bridge into friendship and mutual respect). See the email at the very bottom of the document
- Find professors that you get along with well / admire, and make friends with them. Reader comment: Best way to make friends with profs I’ve found is a) being candid in your opinions on things b) sharing your goals and c) asking them their goals
- Something I didn’t do that in hindsight I should’ve: find one excellent person that you deeply admire in a) a PhD program b) a MSCS program c) the GSB d) the law school and become friends with them (as above).
Things to avoid
- Avoid calling yourself a co-founder of all of your side projects. This can seem childish. Side projects are awesome, but say they are side projects, not a startup.
- Some people start out in freshman/sophomore year and talk a huge game about something, and don’t deliver — reputation catches up quickly and these people get talked about as people who aren’t capable of delivering.
- Avoid being involved in every goddamn thing… unless you really want a certain job that this helps for, don’t be the president of this club and that club and do so much stuff… Make time for more interesting things.
- Avoid jumping at the first sign of opportunity. Building a company is a 10+ year endeavor. I think, at least for the first 6–12 months at school, it is definitely worth keeping projects to a short (say <12 month) timeframe. if you’re really ambitious, you will likely find that the quality of opportunities you get exposed to increases somewhat exponentially. You’ll know you’re breaking this rule if you start telling people you’re co-founding a company, and you haven’t even built a side project yet! If you set your standards/sights really high, there’s a solid chance you’ll reach it.
Also — avoid letting anyone tell you no — if you want to do any of these things that I say not to, go ahead!
Articles to read
By Paul Graham:
(Thanks JS)
Books to read, useful for any goals
- Sapiens
- Poor Charlie’s Almanack
- Principles by Ray Dalio
- Any biographies — e.g. on Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Sam Walton, Steve Jobs
A few interviews with ambitious students
Next steps / how to meet other great people
If you’re at Stanford, Cal, or Brown, email anon1@alumni.stanford.edu — I’ll happily connect you with other great students. I can also answer further short specific non-easily Googleable questions over email. Please include some data points that make it easy for me to see your ambition / smarts / curiosity / thoughtfulness at a quick glance.