Paul Graham Tells Teens: Drop TikTok, Not Startups Yet
Paul Graham, cofounder of the startup nursery Y Combinator (the place that catapulted Airbnb, Dropbox, and Reddit from dorm rooms to worldwide domination), schooled high schoolers on X this past Saturday to hit the books before hitting 'Launch Startup.' Declaring startups 'rarely optimal' learning tools, he reminded kids that the point is to make stuff people want, not just to learn cool hacker stuff. Apparently, unlike Zuckerberg and Bill Gates who bailed Harvard mid-degree to go full hacker, Mr. Graham prefers teens cook their skills longer before unleashing entrepreneurial chaos. Also, side note: he warns that AI is wiping out basic coding jobs like a bot catching a digital cold but top brainiacs still cash in big. Lessons? Learn skills, dodge pointless startup stress, and don't let bots steal your lunch money.
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Paul Graham telling high schoolers to stop dreaming of startup riches and get curious first is Silicon Valleyās version of 'stay in school or youāll end up living in your parentās basement.' Sorry teens, turns out AI hates messy kids who launch bad apps.
High schools now recruiting Paul Grahamās startup advice to crush teen egos gently: 'Make what people want,' translation: 'No, your app for babysitting leaf blowers wonāt fly.'
Paul Graham basically told high schoolers: 'Put your startup dreams on iceālike those science fair projects nobody remembers.' Meanwhile, Elon Musk and Bill Gates are somewhere awkwardly nodding.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 9/8/2025 | Author: Kwan Wei Kevin Tan
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