a16z is challenging Silicon Valley’s love for drop-outs by launching a school

a16z 创办学校，挑战硅谷对“辍学创业”的推崇

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is launching a school called The Horowitz Andreessen Academy aimed at aspiring founders who have just graduated high school and have not yet attended college. 风险投资公司 Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) 正在创办一所名为“Horowitz Andreessen Academy”的学校，旨在招收刚高中毕业且尚未进入大学的创业苗子。

The academy is aiming to train these high school grads with hands-on coursework on a variety of topics ranging from the technical (such as “AI Research and Models”) to life philosophy (such as “The Geometry of Luck,” which promises to teach students “about arranging a life so good fortune flows through it.”) Students will also work on personal projects. 该学院旨在通过实践课程对这些高中毕业生进行培训，课程涵盖从技术类（如“人工智能研究与模型”）到人生哲学（如“运气的几何学”，承诺教导学生“如何安排生活，让好运自然流向自己”）等多个领域。学生们还将参与个人项目。

The school’s main pitch is that it promises to provide students with mentors who are big names in tech. The school is currently accepting applications for its first year, which will be a one-year program that charges no tuition, and is open to about 50 students, “chosen on proof of work: what they have built, shipped, or earned,” according to the school’s FAQ. 该校的主要卖点是承诺为学生提供科技界大咖作为导师。目前，学校正在接受首届学生的申请。首届项目为期一年，免收学费，计划招收约 50 名学生。根据学校的常见问题解答（FAQ），录取标准是“基于工作证明：即他们已经构建、发布或获得过什么成果”。

The academy is located in San Francisco and students will be responsible for their own housing (although the school is working to help them find it and match them with other student roommates). One item to note: The academy is currently not an accredited school, so participants will not earn a degree, or college credits that transfer elsewhere. 该学院位于旧金山，学生需自行解决住宿问题（尽管校方正在努力协助他们寻找房源并匹配室友）。需要注意的是：该学院目前并非认证学校，因此学员无法获得学位或可转入其他大学的学分。

In 2028, The Horowitz Andreessen Academy — which is a for-profit venture that has raised $42 million — hopes to offer a two-year program. At that point, it plans to charge tuition “similar in cost to an elite private university,” the school’s CEO Gagan Biyani said in a post on X. The schools, which is open to high school graduates, even if they are younger than 18, may also expand beyond 50 students in the future, an a16z spokesperson tells TechCrunch. Horowitz Andreessen Academy 是一家已筹集 4200 万美元资金的营利性机构，希望在 2028 年提供两年制课程。学校首席执行官 Gagan Biyani 在 X 上发文称，届时计划收取“与精英私立大学相当”的学费。a16z 发言人告诉 TechCrunch，该校面向高中毕业生（即使未满 18 岁也可申请），未来招生规模可能会超过 50 人。

In exchange for that elite-tuition price tag, students will gain access to 200 speakers and mentors, including people from 10 founding corporate partners: Anduril, Anthropic, Coinbase, Google, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir, Replit, and Stripe. Those companies and dozens of others hope to hire from the grads of this school, Biyani said. 作为支付高昂学费的回报，学生将有机会接触到 200 位演讲者和导师，其中包括来自 10 家创始企业合作伙伴的人士，这些公司包括：Anduril、Anthropic、Coinbase、Google、Meta、Nvidia、OpenAI、Palantir、Replit 和 Stripe。Biyani 表示，这些公司以及其他数十家企业都希望从该校毕业生中进行招聘。

So, this is like if Y Combinator (the most famed startup school) and Peter Thiel’s Fellowship Program (a famed program for young people who opt to build companies instead of attend college) had a baby. The difference is, instead of a short-term experience ending with funding for a company, these students will pay tuition, earn tech-trade skills, and have an inside track at tech industry jobs. Or they may also have a startup in the works, built with access to a lot of mentorship. 简单来说，这就像是 Y Combinator（最著名的创业孵化器）和 Peter Thiel 奖学金项目（为选择创业而非上大学的年轻人设立的著名项目）的“结合体”。不同之处在于，学生们不是通过短期体验来换取创业资金，而是通过支付学费来学习科技行业技能，并获得进入科技公司工作的捷径。或者，他们也可以在导师的指导下开展自己的创业项目。

As the founders of the academy describe, it’s meant to be a new, middle ground between obtaining a full degree before entering the tech industry and dropping out to start a company. In this era when AI has been hampering the entry-level job market, gaining access to jobs may be enough reason for some young people to try this new trade school-like approach. 正如学院创始人所描述的那样，这旨在成为“在进入科技行业前获得完整学位”与“辍学创业”之间的一种全新中间地带。在人工智能冲击入门级就业市场的当下，能够获得就业机会或许足以让一些年轻人尝试这种类似职业学校的新路径。