Some groups produce extraordinary talented people in specific fields. Who are those groups, and what can we learn from those ecosystems? This page will list all groups I’ve noticed that yield exceptional individuals.
Again, this is anecdotal. I recognize I am not as talented enough at all to be making such judgements. This is for my personal use alone, a way for me to calibrate my beliefs of what talent is, and in no way claiming that some groups produce no talent.
This list is split into talented individuals and talented groups.
Groups
The data is presented in a table with the following columns:
- Year: When did I make this prediction and for what year does the prediction apply to.
- Group: The group name and a link to the team (or main page) will be written.
- Field: Groups often produce talent who go on to work in specific fields. What field is that?
- Strength: The strength of the talent yielded from the group, out of 7.
- Trend: Is the average talent getting stronger or weaker?
- Examples: A list of alumni from said group that have gone on to do impressive work.
Strength and trend is subjective and based on anecdotal observations. An attempted quantitative heuristic for strength and trend is defined:
Strength: strength of talent of alumni from a group, with variance factored in. From 1-7, the rating heuristic goes from: promising talent → notable contribution in the field → generational or field-defining work.
Trend: whether talent output is increasing or decreasing.
- ▲ = Increasing alumni output, visibility, or quality
- ▼ = Fading reputation, fewer recent outcomes
- — = Stable
- ? = Unknown
Note: groups that are bloated or historically prestigious are avoided (eg: Harvard, Stanford, other universities).
| Year | Group | Field | Strength | Trend | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Neuralink | BCIs | 6 | ― | |
| 2023 | SpaceX | Space | 7 | ▲ | |
| 2024 | Church Lab | Biotech | 6 | ▲ | |
| 2025 | Boyden Lab | Neuro | 5 | ▲ | |
| 2025 | Kording Lab | Neuro | 2 | ? | |
| 2025 | Mitchell Lab | Drug delivery | 2 | ▲ | |
| 2025 | Thiel Fellows | Startups | 6 | ― | |
| 2025 | Z Fellows | Startups | 3 | ▼ | |
| 2025 | YC | Startups | 3 | ▼ | |
| 2025 | Google X | Technology | 7 | ? | |
| 2025 | Hack Club | Early generalist | 3 | ▲ | |
| 2025 | TKS | Early generalist | 1 | ▼ | |
| 2025 | New Science | Science | 4 | ? | |
| 2025 | Magnificent Grants | Startups | 4 | ▲ | |
| 2025 | Emergent Ventures | Generalist | 3 | ▼ | |
| 2025 | Dyno Therapeutics | Biotech | 5 | ? | |
| 2025 | Contrary VPs | Startups | 4 | ? | |
| 2025 | Foresight Fellows | Science | 4 | ? | |
| 2025 | Prod | Startups | 3 | ▼ |