Michael Gibson
Co-founder and General Partner of 1517 Fund, backing uncredentialed and dropout founders in deep tech; co-founded the Thiel Fellowship with Danielle Strachman in 2010; author of Paper Belt on Fire (2022), a critique of the higher-education bubble.
Michael Gibson (also published as Michael Patrick Gibson) worked as a research analyst at Peter Thiel's Clarium Capital and an associate at Thiel Capital around 2010. That year he co-founded the Thiel Fellowship ('20 Under 20') with Danielle Strachman, serving as VP of Grants for the Thiel Foundation and co-running it from 2010 to 2015; it funded teenage talent including Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin and Figma's Dylan Field before either was well known. In 2015, after watching uncredentialed Thiel Fellows outperform expectations, Gibson co-founded 1517 Fund with Strachman, a venture firm that writes checks from $50K (idea stage) to $1M (deep-tech/sci-fi seed) to college dropouts and others overlooked by traditional venture and academic institutions; he remains Co-Founder and General Partner. He wrote Paper Belt on Fire: How Renegade Investors Sparked a Revolt Against the University (2022), arguing higher education has become an unproductive financial bubble.
Overview
- Role
- Co-Founder & General Partner, 1517 Fund
- Based in
- Telluride, CO
- Prior experience
- Thiel Foundation (VP of Grants; co-founded Thiel Fellowship program 2010-2015), Thiel Capital (Associate), Clarium Capital (Research Analyst)
- Website
- www.1517fund.com/
Companies0
No linked records yet.
Affiliated funds1
Frequently asked
- Who is Michael Gibson?
- Michael Gibson (also published as Michael Patrick Gibson) worked as a research analyst at Peter Thiel's Clarium Capital and an associate at Thiel Capital around 2010. That year he co-founded the Thiel Fellowship ('20 Under 20') with Danielle Strachman, serving as VP of Grants for the Thiel Foundation and co-running it from 2010 to 2015; it funded teenage talent including Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin and Figma's Dylan Field before either was well known. In 2015, after watching uncredentialed Thiel Fellows outperform expectations, Gibson co-founded 1517 Fund with Strachman, a venture firm that writes checks from $50K (idea stage) to $1M (deep-tech/sci-fi seed) to college dropouts and others overlooked by traditional venture and academic institutions; he remains Co-Founder and General Partner. He wrote Paper Belt on Fire: How Renegade Investors Sparked a Revolt Against the University (2022), arguing higher education has become an unproductive financial bubble.
- What is Michael Gibson's role?
- Michael Gibson is Co-Founder & General Partner, 1517 Fund, based in Telluride, CO.
- Where did Michael Gibson work before?
- Michael Gibson's prior roles include Thiel Foundation (VP of Grants; co-founded Thiel Fellowship program 2010-2015), Thiel Capital (Associate), Clarium Capital (Research Analyst).
Tags
Sources & citations2
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
1517 Fund is co-founded by Michael Gibson and Danielle Strachman (2015), backing dropouts, students, and sci-fi science founders.
1517 Fund: 1517 Fund - Backing Dropouts, Students & SciFi ScienceVerified2026-08-11 - 2
Paper Belt on Fire: How Renegade Investors Sparked a Revolt Against the University, by Michael Gibson, published November 29, 2022.
Encounter Books: Paper Belt on FireVerified2022-11-29