Someone asked what I'd do if I were 17. I'd learn how to build LLMs from scratch, and then train ones as powerful as I could with whatever hardware I could get access to.
Something I told 14 yo: People are going to stop reading books. I wish this wasn't so, but I fear it is. The silver lining in this cloud is that if you're one of the few people who still read, you'll have a huge advantage over everyone else.
The best predictor of success for tech companies, at every stage from during the YC batch to public company with billions in revenue, is the rate of shipping new stuff.
Decisions:
• If you can’t decide, the answer is no.
• If two equally difficult paths, choose the one more painful in the short term (pain avoidance is creating an illusion of equality).
• Choose the path that leaves you more equanimous in the long term.
Evolution works by mutation and selection.
Innovation works by trial and error.
Science works by conjecture and criticism.
Free markets work by entrepreneurship and risk.
All truth-seeking systems work roughly the same way.