Founder: Top students at Stanford/Harvard/MIT default to listing why ideas fail instead of making them work

gabriel1 · x · 2026-11-10

A founder sparked discussion by arguing that the smartest 18-23 year olds at Stanford/Harvard/MIT have a "loser mindset": presented with any idea, they default to detailing everything that might not work rather than figuring out how to make it work.

His follow-up theory: really smart people thrive in school because it's all fake tasks detached from reality, where bullshit-detection pays off — but in the real world, optimism and obsessing over how to make crazy ideas work captures 99% of the upside.

Related event: Founder Slams Elite Graduates for 'Loser Mentality'(2 posts)→

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