Kevin Hartz is often an early adopter. He co-created Xoom in 2001, when international money transfers meant physically waiting at Western Union. The company went public in 2013, and in 2015, PayPal acquired it for $1.1 billion. Four years after starting Xoom, he co-founded Eventbrite, which went public in 2018 and transformed event ticket purchasing into a hassle-free experience.
Following a period at Founders Fund, Hartz established his own venture capital firm, A* Capital (named after a computer science algorithm). Then, in 2020, he identified another trend before it became mainstream: the SPAC craze. His special purpose acquisition company, “one,” acquired 3D printing firm Markforged in a $2.1 billion reverse merger in 2021, just as nearly every other Silicon Valley financier decided SPACs were the future.
Now, Hartz is focused on his next venture: teenage founders, not as a mere experiment but as an unexpected investment focus. His firm recently invested in Aaru, an AI-driven prediction platform with a founder who was too young to possess a driver’s license at the time. Hartz isn’t alone in this. The dropout-and-build philosophy, popularized by figures like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, is becoming a common path for certain driven young people.
Consider Cory Levy, who interned at Founders Fund, Union Square Ventures, and Techstars while still in high school, and then left the University of Illinois after his first year. He now leads Z Fellows, a week-long accelerator providing $10,000 grants to technical founders, including high school students. A decade ago, when Levy dropped out, the Thiel Fellowship was a groundbreaking concept. Now, the “dropout community is larger than ever,” he told Business Insider last spring. “At a large dinner with 15 or 20 people, you might find that no one has a college degree.”
It’s becoming such a significant trend that Y Combinator, which has subtly supported dropout culture from the beginning, recently introduced a program for students who want to launch companies but prefer not to drop out. This program allows students to apply while still in school, receive immediate acceptance and funding, and postpone their YC participation until after graduation. (This move is consistent with YC’s reputation for being unconventional.)
TechCrunch has naturally covered this trend extensively: see here and here and here. To delve deeper, I will be interviewing Hartz at the StrictlyVC event during TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference, which starts in San Francisco on Monday, October 27. (Hartz will speak on Tuesday, October 28.)
In the meantime, here are excerpts from a conversation we had on Friday, where we began to explore the subject:
Techcrunch event
San Francisco
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October 27-29, 2025
TC: We’ve always seen teenagers launching companies, but it certainly seems like there are more of them than ever, and you’re confirming that this is indeed the case. Why do you believe this is happening?
Kevin Hartz: You encounter these exceptionally bright young individuals who are simply bored with their schooling. I see Stanford freshmen or sophomores who fit this description — they were completely uninterested, some turned to homeschooling, and they excelled. Even at prestigious universities, they still leave with a strong desire to build, learn, and innovate. We invested in one company where the founders were 18, 18, and 15. The CTO is likely 16 now, but was 15 when we invested. But that’s not really out of the ordinary.
How does Z Fellows compare to the Thiel Fellowship, which Peter Thiel launched several years ago?
They’re very similar. The main difference is that the Thiel Fellowship is a nonprofit organization, and — while I admire Peter — nonprofits might not be as driven. Cory has been dedicated to building Z Fellows for the past few years, and it’s an excellent program. It’s another example of Peter being ahead of the curve, recognizing the value in the paradox of paying people to drop out. This phenomenon has been expanding, and it’s hard to predict how far it will go, especially with the high cost of universities and what many perceive as a dysfunctional environment within universities with ineffective management. All of this encourages teenagers to ask, ‘Why not drop out and start building?’
Does Z Fellows receive equity in the companies?
They offer a small initial investment — $10,000. They also have a fund to support people later on. But it’s primarily a $10,000 grant with no obligations. I believe Cory also selects a few individuals to invest $100K in during pre-seed [rounds].
What are your thoughts on the statistics showing that young people are struggling to find jobs after graduation? I suspect this is partly due to the realization that a job may not be guaranteed even with a degree.
There’s another trend emerging — a projected shift in ’26 or ’27 where there will be more 1099 contractors than W-2 employees. This means that, unlike 30 years ago when people worked for large corporations like Nestlé, McKinsey, or IBM, they’re now self-employed. They’re trading crypto or starting their own ventures. This highlights American individualism. It’s as if the United States is entering an era of intense entrepreneurial activity.
I believe people are driven to start companies, but I also think that many are increasingly forced to do so as they are displaced from traditional roles due to efficiencies gained through AI and other advancements.
Paul Graham once said something that has always resonated with me: it’s both a blessing and a curse for a young founder when their startup succeeds, because it consumes their life. You were a young entrepreneur yourself. How do you feel about investing in a 15-year-old, knowing that their company might thrive and they might miss out on experiences that most 15-, 16-, 17-year-olds have?
I found it to be a thrilling experience, but it was also marked by difficult challenges. It amplifies everything. And it’s a valid point. [Seventeen] is the age when Marines are sent into combat because they are fearless. Perhaps there’s something about that age that makes people very ambitious. However, I wonder if it’s too early to fully grasp the implications, given how recent this trend is.
We’re only at the start of what I would describe as a major growth cycle in tech, driven by AI and related technologies — particularly AI. We’re in the very early stages. Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are growing rapidly in the foundational model space. Now, we’re all starting to focus on application layers. We have coding co-pilots like Cognition, and AI CRM companies like Decagon and Sierra. But numerous other categories are ripe for disruption. Even Sierra and Decagon are in the infancy of their missions.
You have daughters. Would you want them to attend college? How would you feel if they said, “Dad, I want to start something now and not go to college”?
Our 17-year-old is currently applying to colleges. She wants the college experience. She desires that particular phase of life. She never really questioned it. I tried to provide her with as many opportunities as possible to consider alternatives, and I will do the same with our 13-year-old when her time comes.
Of the investments you’ve made in the past year, approximately how many involve teenagers?
Around 20%.
And what would you have said two years ago?
About 5%.
