why The Residency.

a home for the ambitious

This week I’ve been conducting a lot of interviews for The Residency. I always end with “any questions for me?” The most common response is “why did you start The Residency?”

It’s a long answer and 99% of the time I give a short answer: “it’s the college experience I wish I would have had” or “I want to give ambitious people the environment to build.”

This post is for those who want the long answer to “why The Residency?” I structured this post by highlighting my 14 whys.

Early Life 0-18 y/o

With a dad who always reinforced the idea that I could do anything, and with a mom who always pushed me to do more, I became a young adult who wanted to do something BIG. why #1: I want to do something that can positively impact millions of people. I believe The Residency has a high probability of doing exactly that.

Young Adult Life 18-25 y/o

For 2 years during college, and 3 years after college, I researched AI so that I could build something BIG: AGI, a computer smarter than a human.

I wanted to spend all of my mental energy on creating a new neural network architecture that would get us to AGI. But in school my time was spent studying for tests, and at work my time was spent writing code that marginally improved existing products.

I craved more impact, and I had ideas on how to have much more impact, but I did not have anyone who supported or encouraged those impactful ideas. My boss saw them as risky (even though I was in the research department… but it was IBM…) and my professors never even asked. My university and work environments did not support ambition, they maintained mediocracy. why #2: The Residency is designed to provide all of the technical and emotional support needed to execute on BIG ideas - no longer will a young person’s ambition die.

Present Life 25-27 y/o

When I quit my job on October, 1st 2022, I was living in New York City, working out of my small apartment as a solo founder. My mental health started to rapidly decline… why #3: I wish I had been building my startup alongside similarly motivated friends. I’d experience more enjoyment and I’d end up with more knowledge. The core value add of The Residency is giving builders that friend group.

The startup I was founding was going well! I got a small team to help with development which meant I had more time for other things. I decided to spend that time on building new startups, 4 other startups to be exact 😅 I quickly realized I could NOT do all of them to the degree I wanted, but I still wished that all of them to come to life! why #4: I have hundreds of ideas of things I want created or improved. I see The Residency as a training ground to build an army of innovators who can create a better future.

2 of the 5 startups I was building aimed to redefine research. I wanted to change the processes for conducting research, reviewing research, and getting into research. I wanted to increase the pace of innovation in the world. why #5: by redefining higher education, we can create a more efficient academic research process.

Early 2023, I learned of an idea like the one Sam Altman mentioned in the following tweet. It did not sound like a sustainable business model, but I did the math and was proved wrong. It became incredibly clear that investing into founders is a great idea. why #6: selfishly so, I want a net worth of ~$15 million so that my family, close friends, and I will never be concerned about finances again. I think The Residency can make that happen.

When I quit my job to go on my own, I learned SOOO much more about myself and the professional world than I ever did in school or work. why #7: learning is best when solving real world problems. The Residency’s pedagogy is centered around this idea: learn from building. I personally think living in a “smarter” society will be awesome.

With all of these “whys”…

why #1: large impact
why #2: let young people do what they want
why #3: community for founders
why #4: army of innovators
why #5: reinvent research
why #6: ambitious people are valuable
why #7: learn from building

… there was no other idea that excited me as much as creating an alternative to college for the world’s most ambitious people.

Once I actually considered working on this idea, the other “whys” came rushing in.

why #8: More time for researchers to research
Over the last decade most knowledge has become learnable from online materials. With advancements in AI, learning without an instructor got even easier. In The Residency’s model, professors do not need to teach, instead they can mentor on an ad hoc basis. This frees up their valuable time to spend on research. With hard problems plaguing humanity and the earth, the more smart people doing research, the better.

why #9: Help more people find their passions
I wish in college I had more room to explore things like architecture, culinary practices, and Alzheimer's research. We can give people the time for this exploration, the 4 year degree structure is NOT necessary. At The Residency, residents go at their own pace, learning as much or as little about topics as they please. The ability to pivot learning objectives quickly allows for residents to more efficiently explore their curiosities and find their passions. Residents demonstrate their skills with portfolios, not degrees.

why #10: Non-experts are more creative
With many hard problems out there, we need creative solutions. Young people bring creativity and energy to these hard problems because they are not experts. They have beginners mind. I think most of society drastically underestimates young people, at 18 years old, I felt like I could conquer the world 🚀 Confidence and determination can go a long ways.

why #11: Degrees do NOT matter (much)
When I was building in Web3, I saw that young people can provide value to companies, without a degree. Google, Apple, and others realized this back in 2018 when they dropped degree requirements. When building startups, timing is key! I feel very confident that now is the right time for The Residency.

why #12: AGI is coming
Artificial General Intelligence is going to change SOOOO much about the way we work and interact with one another. There already is, and will continue to be, challenges that arise because of this new technology. Educational institutions need to be adaptable if they want to effectively serve students. I do not expect existing higher education institutions to adapt quickly or properly to this new technology. At The Residency, we want to make sure learners can leverage AI while also working closely with their peers. We aim for residents to enjoy connecting with each other as much, or more than, they enjoy connecting with their AI.

why #13: People need to learn to make their own decisions
In college, we have 1 important decision to make: our major. Beyond that, everything is pretty much decided for us. What to learn (classes), what values to hold (DEI), and what to aim for (GPA). When I started a company, I had to make every decision on my own: when to work, what to work on, what to aim for, what options to choose. I was NOT well equipped for this because I wanted certainty, but in the real world, nothing is certain. Everything is context dependent and the context is regularly changing. At The Residency, every resident decides their goals and makes their own decisions on how to reach those goals. Coaches and mentors are there to help guide and advise, not to decide. We think that with more people who are capable of making effective decisions in our uncertain world, the rising rates of anxiety will finally start to decline.

why #14: We NEED a culture shift (see Harvard, MIT, and UPenn’s testimonies before congress)
Young people go to college at a very impressionable point in their lives. It is important that universities impress upon values and mindsets that align with the world we desire. I think most of us do not want genocide… so how did we get into a position where the presidents of leading educational institutions are not speaking up against it?

I think we ended up here because of structural problems with our education systems. Most importantly, it is a structure that supports group think. Students live in a mindset of “work hard to prove to professors, employers, and parents, that I am capable.” Their core focus is on what others want from them, not what they want for themselves. They learn to think of what “the group” wants.

At The Residency, we highly value freedom, as seen in our logo of a wing flying free🪽. We aim to get young people in a mindset of “work hard because this topic is interesting, and I can build something that is valuable to others.”

We believe that with this shift in mindset, young people will more often think for themselves, they will be more resistant to falling into group think, and they will be well positioned to create a future with way less political polarization.

So that’s it! These are 14 reasons why I started The Residency. These are the reasons I work 12 hour days, the reasons why I do not care (too much) about forgoing a tech salary, and why I truly believe we will out compete the Ivy Leagues for attracting and growing the world’s most ambitious young adults into our ideal graduate.

Thanks for reading!

🫶

Nick

The Residency