How many successful companies have actually been started by a Thiel Fellow? The only one I can find is Oyo, but Ritesh had already dropped out of college to work on its predecessor (Oravel) long before he applied to the Thiel Fellowship (which he apparently lied his way into, according to the comment above by Radim, and this article: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.livemint.com&#x2F;Companies&#x2F;7CN7u5d4i3bfYgBAZLdLpM&#x2F;Will-the-real-Ritesh-Agarwal-please-stand-up.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.livemint.com&#x2F;Companies&#x2F;7CN7u5d4i3bfYgBAZLdLpM&#x2F;Wil...</a>).<p>It seems to me (admittedly an outsider) that Thiel learned the wrong lesson from Zuck&#x27;s success with dropping out to found Facebook. It wasn&#x27;t because Zuck dropped out of college that Facebook was successful - it was because Facebook was already successful (already seeing exponential growth) that Zuck dropped out. Thiel then took this incorrect lesson to encourage lots of other students from elite universities to also drop out, which has had predictably disappointing results.<p>Similarly, Ritesh wasn&#x27;t successful because he dropped out and became a Thiel Fellow - he was accepted to the Thiel Fellowship because he had already dropped out and had seen some success (or lied that he had, as it seems).<p>&gt; Most if not successful get another job in the technology industry<p>Getting a job is great, but that just means that Thiel&#x27;s stamp of approval has been placed on the individual, instead of the college&#x27;s. The upside being years&#x2F;thousands of dollars in saved tuition, the downside being that Thiel is not commonly known outside of Silicon Valley circles. I&#x27;d rather take the degree any day.