Asked what he'd do if Truth Systems didn't exist and money wasn't a factor, Nam said he'd probably go back to school — because he values interdisciplinary environments where you can fail without everything being on the line. Paul Graham told his YC batch the same: stay in school.
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Nam says he loves startups because he values interdisciplinary environments where you can "create learn and experiment at the same time," and the most creative people he knows are good at connecting different fields. In an age where AI does the boring stuff, he believes the people who excel will be the creative ones who tie threads together. School, to him, is one of the few places that allows that kind of exploration "where you can fail without everything being on the line." He notes that Paul Graham told his batch to stay in school — "it is actually the last place where curiosity isn't penalized."