Summary: <a href="http://www.gayleallen.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Blog-Post-Charlie-Stigler.png"></a>At the age of 16, <a href="http://charliestigler.com/">Charlie Stigler</a> built <a href="https://selfcontrolapp.com/">SelfControl</a>, an app designed to block out online distractions. It has been downloaded by millions. Encouraged by that success, two years later, Charlie founded a successful ed tech company, <a href="https://www.zaption.com/">Zaption</a>, which rethinks the use of video for learning. He did both before the ink was dry on his high school diploma.<br> After graduation, Charlie did what everyone expected him to do. He headed off to college at <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a>. Two years later, even he was surprised when he decided to drop out and become a Thiel Fellow in 2012. <br> This week, in a special edition of <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-minds-innovation-inspiration/id1049183266?mt=2">Curious Minds</a>, I share interviews with four young people, ages 18-22, each of whom decided either to drop out or never attend college, in order to pursue work that mattered. Each is either a current or past recipient of a <a href="http://thielfellowship.org/">Thiel Fellowship</a>, a program founded in 2011 by <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/peter-thiel/">Peter Thiel</a> to encourage young people to sidestep college and a traditional life path, in order to chart their own course as entrepreneurs.<br> In this episode you will hear:<br> <br> how the projects that got Charlie into college were the very things he had to give up once he got there<br> ways friends and family responded to his decision to choose a different path<br> what exposure to can-do, will-do entrepreneurs helped him see<br> what we lose when everything is done for us<br> how he learned to decide what structure looked like for him<br> how his real learning was taking place outside of high school and college<br> how high school did not support independent entrepreneurial thinking<br> advice for young people<br> how we delay and support young people in not knowing what they want to do rather than encouraging them to find out and supporting that<br> how technology and artificial intelligence and the rapid pace of change is helping us rethink our shoulds<br> <br> Links to Topics Mentioned in this Podcast<br> <a href="http://thielfellowship.org/">Thiel Fellows</a><br> <a href="https://selfcontrolapp.com/">SelfControl</a><br> <a href="https://www.zaption.com/">Zaption</a><br> <a href="http://visitsteve.com/">Steve Lambert</a><br> <a href="http://www.wired.com/">Wired</a><br> <a href="http://www.macworld.com/">MacWorld</a><br> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/">Washington Post</a><br> <a href="https://www.psych.ucla.edu/faculty/page/stigler">James Stigler</a><br> <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a><br> If you enjoyed the podcast, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Steindl-Rast">please rate and review it on iTunes.</a> For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-minds-innovation-inspiration/id1049183266?mt=2">subscribe</a>. Thanks for listening!<br> Thank you to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarknowlin">Clark Nowlin</a> and his sound engineering team at <a href="http://www.claritypodcasting.com/#about">Clarity Podcasting</a> and to Emmy-award-winning Creative Director <a href="https://vimeo.com/vanidavae">Vanida Vae</a> for creating the Curious Minds logo!<br> <a href="https://twitter.com/GAllenTC">@GAllenTC</a><br> <a href="http://www.gayleallen.net">www.gayleallen.net</a><br> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gayleallen">LinkedIn</a><br>
