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The more I’m getting in startups the more I’m meeting new cohorts of founders and techies who are, for lack of a better word, “super zillennials"
Super zillennials are usually some variation of:
Blue-chip educational pedigree
YC / big co / startup / institutional stamp
Interesting / unusual / valuable skill set
High degree of optionality
Blue-chip educational pedigree
YC / big co / startup / institutional stamp
Interesting / unusual / valuable skill set
High degree of optionality
If I thought the classes of mid-late 2010’s were ambitious, they really can’t hold a candle to the class of 202X.
We’re talking about an incredibly young but scarily competent generation raised on the internet and clear-eyed about navigating the insanity of the modern world
We’re talking about an incredibly young but scarily competent generation raised on the internet and clear-eyed about navigating the insanity of the modern world
Super zillennials are:
Keenly attuned to social and power dynamics
Experts at playing iterated games to get clout
More entrepreneurial + willing to hustle
Less likely to accept the existing world order without wanting to remake it in their own image
Keenly attuned to social and power dynamics
Experts at playing iterated games to get clout
More entrepreneurial + willing to hustle
Less likely to accept the existing world order without wanting to remake it in their own image
In the past few years competition in the job market and the world at large has accelerated, and if I had to point to one catalyst beyond macro social or economic factors, it would be: college admissions
When I was in high school, it was cool to be class president or prom queen or maybe qualify for the national honor society
Now it’s like, if you haven’t conducted cutting-edge genomics research or founded a nonprofit by the time you’re 16, what are you even doing with your life?
Now it’s like, if you haven’t conducted cutting-edge genomics research or founded a nonprofit by the time you’re 16, what are you even doing with your life?
Once upon a time I spoke with an executive at Goldman Sachs for career advice.
And I remember, clear as day, him telling me, “you’re 22, you haven’t been vetted, who knows if you can even tie your shoes?”
And I remember, clear as day, him telling me, “you’re 22, you haven’t been vetted, who knows if you can even tie your shoes?”
The 22 year olds I’m speaking with today are more likely to invent self-flying drones that can tie your shoes for you, patent the technology, and resell it for millions to big corporations, with GS on the M&A deal.
So don't sleep on super zillennials, folks
So don't sleep on super zillennials, folks
Underlying my pride at the extreme competency of the people who will eventually inherit the world lies some degree of sadness for both the childhoods that have been given up in the pursuit of achievement—and the loneliness that must be inherent in walking that path so young
I’m not exactly qualified to give advice, but there is an article I read once that cleanly outlines some of the potential pitfalls of high achieving individuals
Give it a read, it's worth your time: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/5/25/desai-commencement-ed/
Give it a read, it's worth your time: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/5/25/desai-commencement-ed/
