It's Out! Paper Belt on Fire

Our Behind-the-scenes story of the Thiel Fellowship & 1517

Mirabile dictu - I wrote a book and it’s officially out today! You can buy it at your local bookstore or order it on Amazon here. (There is also an audiobook version.)

For anyone who has followed us here at 1517, I tried my best to extend and deepen in narrative form some of the ideas we’ve been talking about for years. I also wanted to write a funny book. I think you’ll all enjoy it.

My colleague Nick Arnett, who is admittedly biased, wrote a very kind and fun review of the book on Facebook:

A few weeks ago we celebrated the release of Michael's book in NYC. He's worked hard on it for years and holy cow, it shows! The night I got my copy I was up until 4:30am reading it. I just couldn't put it down.

It's a tour de force on the mechanisms of technological progress, a scathing critique of higher education, and an epic adventure novel that gives a detailed account of Danielle & Mike's journey from building the Thiel Fellowship to starting 1517 (full of moments where you *have* to keep reading because you have to know what happens next.. like Danielle almost getting trapped in China, the email Mike sent to Ari Emanuel, the lube story.. the list goes on and on!). More than that, it's a liberation. It fearlessly calls into question the holy status of some of modern society's most sacred institutions while also painting an optimistic future for humankind so long as we're willing to change course.

It's a page-turner & a must-read. I may be somewhat biased having worked with Mike for years, but I couldn't set it down even though I already knew many of the stories in it!

And.. it comes out today, November 29th! I hope you give it a read and that you enjoy it as much as I did. Link to order is below!

Paper Belt on Fire: How Renegade Investors Sparked a Revolt Against the University - https://a.co/d/58FBUo6