Sebastian Thrun, founder of Waymo, Google X, Udacity and Kittyhawk
Last week, we were glad to welcome Sebastian Thrun to the Icons dinner. Sebastian shared with us unique insights from his unconventional and diverse career, spanning his time as a tenured professor at Stanford to founding Google X, Waymo, Udacity, and Kittyhawk.
Democratization of education
Technology has a long track record of democratizing access, and today’s LLM capabilities can provide students with something that used to be scarce: a personalized tutor and an individualized on-demand curriculum. That can widen opportunities by making education cheaper and more broadly accessible. At the same time, classes and universities still matter because they still serve an important social role as places where people meet and learn together.
Contrarian approach to Lean Startup for deep-tech companies
For deep-tech startups, shipping early can backfire: users cannot validate what is not technically viable yet. They will ask for better “horses,” not a car. Until the technology can deliver a real end-to-end experience (as with Waymo), early releases risk non-adoption and misrepresent the true potential.
Obsession with a problem
One of the most frequent mistakes founders make is giving up too early. Sometimes they are actually working on a meaningful problem, but after a few attempts they quit because their initial solution does not work. A better approach is to be obsessed with the problem, not a specific solution or technology. That mindset keeps you adapting, and staying focused on what you are ultimately trying to solve.
No shortage of inventions
Most of the technologies we rely on in our daily lives were invented within the last 150 years, which is a reminder of how early we still are relative to the age of humanity. The vast majority of useful inventions are still ahead of us, so there is no shortage of meaningful things left to build.
We are grateful to Sebastian for taking the time and providing valuable learnings with the Icons community!
Thanks to Silkroad Innovation Hub and CMT Digital for supporting the event.