Smash Notes
Why Did Sarah Chieng Turn Down a $625k Accelerator Check for Thrift House and Go Back to School?
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Sarah Chieng started a company at nineteen. The company was Thrift House, founded in college with a boyfriend who was also at MIT. A gap semester, a spot in Z Fellows, and a bigger check followed. Friends in the house were going through Y Combinator. Thrift House then got into the first batch of a new accelerator and did not get into Y Combinator. Vivian Midha Shen was not a partner yet.
The accelerator money was six hundred twenty five K, and taking the money meant dropping out of school. Sarah Chieng and the boyfriend agreed to refuse the money and stay in school. The startup ended, and both went back to school. Vivian Midha Shen adds that PG tells founders not to drop out, and that dropping out anyway and then succeeding is a strong signal.
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Marrying young, getting rejected by YC, and getting canceled | SOTA S1E1
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