F50: A Different Kind Of Tech Conference

“We asked our friends to identify the smartest, most entrepreneurial people they knew who were not already directly known to Founders Fund,” Gibney told me, “And then we made sure that these were people who wanted to go out and change the world – people who hadn’t succumbed to irony, boredom or cynicism, but had a real plan for how to make things better through technology .. The result … really was one of the half dozen most fun and interesting things I’ve participated in (and this in a week that includes the FB IPO and a Falcon 9 launch).”

Whether or not any of the F50 will actually end up changing the world remains to be seen, but the conference has already proven to be the gift that keeps on giving for many (and I have a slew of new, smart friends in my inbox). The bonds forged between attendees through a mere couple of days were strong enough that when the plane that was supposed to take us back to the mainland broke down, one attendee remarked, “Well if you’re going to be stuck on a deserted island, it might as well be with these people.”

Another said goodbye to a new friend thusly, “Good luck with saving the world and curing Cancer and everything.”

Indeed.

Images via: Jason Purtorti and Michael Solana