GO TO COLLEGE: "I think it’s a natural expectation that schools are not going to keep up with the rate of change that happens in private industry." That's Box co-founder, Aaron Levie, offering up one of many thoughtful reflections on the current and future state of education in this interview transcript from Education Magazine. The young executive, whose company filed an S-1 just last week, was quick to separate the institutional issues in higher education (cost, quality, access) from the value of the experience itself, even taking a gentle swipe at the Thiel Fellowship:
I think that one of the best things about college — and I think that Peter Thiel may have missed this in the Thiel Fellowship — but one of the greatest things about the college environment is that you basically have a 4 year period where you really have no responsibilities, except going to classes.
That safe space accompanied by "core foundational building blocks" is what allowed Levie and co-founder Dylan Smith to start Box, though he's quick to add "a lot of people have to put themselves through college and that does take up a lot of time in other respects."
As if read straight from Silicon Valley's weekly circulated talking points, Levie also champions more computer science education, and supports innovations that "fundamentally make education more accessible and more available to more people, in smaller and more modular parts."
Get the full transcript here.
