Tag Archives: CNBC

Transforming tomorrow (?)—Peter Thiel and his 20 under 20 visionaries

In my Dec. 19, 2011 posting, I wrote about a rapidly approaching deadline for Peter Thiel’s fellowship programme for people under the age of 20. Unusually, I now have some followup information, thanks to an Aug. 13, 2012 posting on the Foresight Institute blog. The finalists, 40 from over 1000 applicants, are appearing in a CNBC documentary, 20 Under 20, Transforming Tomorrow.

The documentary is airing in two parts on Aug. 13, 2012 for part one and Aug. 14, 2012 for a rerun of part one prior to airing part two which features (from the Foresight Institute posting),

Foresight CoFounder Christine Peterson and Director Desiree Dudley will appear in their role as mentors for the Thiel Foundation’s 20Under20 in CNBC’s documentary “20Under20: Transforming Tomorrow”. See these brilliant young people in CNBC’s upcoming documentary, 9-11pm EDT this Tuesday, August 14th! (It’s a 2-part documentary; the 1st episode actually first airs at 10pm EDT on Monday, but re-airs at 9pm EDT Tuesday before the second part at 10pm EDT.) Video trailer: http://youtu.be/F_YR7sfXjl0

If you prefer, you can watch the video here,

This is a very slick production and, maybe it’s the Canadian in me, the arrogance is breathtaking. It’s to be expected in the under-20 group and necessary if they are to deal with complex issues. The more experienced entrepreneurs are the ones I find shocking and somewhat out of touch.  For example, it’s widely recognized that there are a number of possible causes for cancer, as such, there is no single ‘cure for cancer’ or ‘magic bullet’ despite what one of the entrepreneurs suggests in this trailer.