I've been thinking about the Thiel Fellowship and how most of the fellows choose to start their own companies rather than work for an existing company. But if you're talented enough to start your own company and build a product at 18 or 19 why wouldn't you use the next couple years of essentially risk free youth to get even better?

It seems like it makes a lot more sense to go work for a company and be mentored by a more experienced team when you're young than to start your own company. I think too many people are getting caught up in the cool factor of being a founder of a funded startup and not looking at how they can make the best products possible.

Sahil, do you feel like you might have blown some potential by starting a company too early? As an early employee at Pinterest, do you think that you could have stayed there and gotten a lot of experience during their rapid expansion?

Stacey, why did you start mysocialcloud instead of joining LastPass and getting their experience if you really wanted to create the best possible product?

David-- great question. I think you captured a big part of the answer in saying: "people are getting caught up in the cool factor of being a founder of a funded startup and not looking at how they can make the best products possible", which in combination with the advantageous funding environment is making it increasingly popular for young talent without prior experience to launch their own startups.

There's certainly value in learning from an experienced founder / head of product / CTO, especially in preparing amazingly talented young founders for buildings businesses, rather than just products (though there is merit in both).

Would love to see founders with both type of backgrounds (with and w/o experience at another startup) weigh in!

Everyone develops at a different rate, and there's no magic age that determines when you're ready to start a business. But replace "If you're under 20" with "If you're inexperienced", and I think it's an interesting question.

I don't think you need experience to make something great. Sure, it helps, but there's a lot to be said for the power of inspiration and passion, and working for someone else may diminish these emotions rather than enhance them.

I've led projects and I've also worked for other people. Leading projects has taught me more about leadership and self discipline. Working for other people has helped me more technically. I think it's important to find a balance.