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Danielle Strachman and Michael Gibson, Founders and General Partners at the 1517 Fund, discuss their unconventional approach to venture capital. The firm backs ambitious founders, many of whom choose to leave college early to pursue breakthrough ideas.
Drawing on their experience building the Thiel Fellowship, Danielle and Michael explain how working closely with hundreds of young innovators shaped their belief in character driven investing. They share how they identify talent before traditional signals appear and why curiosity, conviction, and “hyper fluency” matter more than credentials.
In this episode, you'll learn:
[01:03] Danielle Strachman and Michael Gibson on building the Thiel Fellowship and founding 1517 Fund
[07:56] Lessons from working with hundreds of Thiel Fellows and identifying exceptional young builders
[14:32] Why leaving college early can be an acceleration, not a dropout
[18:47] The story behind the name 1517 Fund
[23:41] How 1517 evaluates founders and why character matters more than credentials
[29:06] Investing in frontier technologies that sound like science fiction
[36:58] Advice for young builders and how founders can connect with the 1517 community
The nonprofit organization Danielle is passionate about: Foresight Institute
About Danielle Strachman
Danielle Strachman is Co Founder and General Partner at 1517 Fund. She has spent more than a decade working with young entrepreneurs and unconventional builders.
In 2010 she joined the founding team of the Thiel Fellowship, where she led the design and operations of the program. During that time she worked with founders such as Vitalik Buterin and Ritesh Agarwal.
Before that, Danielle founded and directed Innovations Academy in San Diego, a K–8 charter school focused on student led and project based learning.
At 1517 Fund, she focuses on identifying ambitious young builders and helping them turn early ideas into companies.
About Michael Gibson
Michael Gibson is Co Founder and General Partner at 1517 Fund.
In 2010 he helped launch the Thiel Fellowship with Peter Thiel. The program was built on a simple belief. Exceptional founders can appear without credentials and often in unexpected places.
Michael frequently challenges the influence of credential driven institutions across education, government, and industry. His work focuses on supporting founders who push the edges of science and technology.
About 1517 Fund
1517 Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Danielle Strachman and Michael Gibson.
The firm backs young founders, uncredentialed builders, and renegade scientists working on ambitious ideas. Its philosophy grew out of the success of the Thiel Fellowship, which helped launch companies such as Ethereum, Figma, Luminar Technologies, OYO Rooms, and Longevity Fund.
The name 1517 references the year Martin Luther sparked the Reformation. In the same spirit, the firm challenges the modern belief that credentials and diplomas are required to build important things.
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