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Time of India
4 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Tom Brown once scored a B- in linear algebra and today he's Anthropic's cofounder: His 5 career lessons for students and young professionals
Tom Brown, co-founder of Anthropic and one of the earliest employees at , has become a quietly influential figure in the world of artificial intelligence. Yet, less than a decade ago, Brown was struggling with linear algebra, earning a B- in the course. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Today, he sits at the helm of one of AI's fastest-growing research companies. How did he pivot from uncertainty to shaping the cutting edge of technology? His journey offers lessons that students and young professionals can take to heart. From Grouper to OpenAI: Networking as a catalyst Before AI, Brown experimented with startups, including Grouper, a group-dating app, which would unexpectedly shape his career. 'I ended up being close with Greg (Brockman, co-founder and president of OpenAI), which ended up being my connection at OpenAI,' Brown told YC's Lightcone Podcast . Networking wasn't just chance; it was a deliberate strategy. In an email to Business Insider , Brown wrote, 'Surround yourself with people you want to be like. You'll become more similar to them over time'. For students and professionals alike, this illustrates the value of choosing peers and mentors who challenge and inspire you. Lesson 1: Lifelong self-directed learning Brown's entry into AI wasn't predestined. He spent six months self-studying to bridge his knowledge gap before pitching himself to OpenAI. His toolkit included Linear Algebra Done Right by Sheldon Axler, the Google DeepMind e-book How to Scale Your Model , Coursera courses, Kaggle projects, and a GPU purchased via YC alum credit, according to Business Insider . On the podcast, Brown emphasized the courage it took to dive into AI: 'It seemed at the time that you needed to be top superstar to try to help out at all… I had a lot of uncertainty about whether I would be able to help'. Lesson 2: Know how to be helpful Brown underscores that ambition alone isn't enough. 'Contact people doing the work you want to do and explain your plan for helping them. They usually want help and will give you feedback on your approach,' he told Business Insider . Students entering competitive fields should focus on actionable ways to contribute, rather than merely showcasing potential. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Lesson 3: Mentorship and peer learning 'You don't have to go it alone,' Brown wrote to Business Insider . 'When learning, it's much easier if you have a mentor or two and a group of friends learning alongside you'. This principle applies broadly: Whether navigating AI, startups, or corporate environments, guided learning accelerates growth. Lesson 4: Take risks and pursue meaningful work Brown's leap into AI required audacity. He acknowledges that the approach he used in 2015 may not fit today's market but emphasizes the timeless principle: 'Taking more risk is wise, and then also trying to work on stuff where your friends would be really excited and impressed if you did it, or a more idealized version of yourself would be really proud if you succeeded at it,' he told Business Insider . For students and professionals, this translates into stepping out of comfort zones to pursue projects with impact. Lesson 5: Learn by doing and manage personal resources Brown stresses practical experience over abstract preparation. 'The best way to get good at something is usually by doing it directly. Try doing it first, then see where you fail. That will show you where you need to practice,' according to Business Insider . Complementing this advice is his financial wisdom: 'Keep your personal expenses low'. Risk-taking is more sustainable when personal stability is maintained. From a B- to AI frontier Brown's trajectory — from uncertain linear algebra student to Anthropic co-founder, demonstrates that career success is rarely linear. It is forged through curiosity, deliberate networking, mentorship, calculated risk-taking, and hands-on learning. For students and young professionals, his story offers not just inspiration, but a roadmap for navigating the complex and fast-evolving world of technology. TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us
Business Insider
16 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Anthropic cofounder Tom Brown networked and self-studied his way into AI. He shared with us 5 career tips.
Tom Brown was one of the first 20 employees at OpenAI. Less than a decade prior, he was scoring a B- in his linear algebra course. Brown hopped between startups — many backed by accelerator Y Combinator — before landing at OpenAI and later cofounding Anthropic. Brown shared with Business Insider over email his 5 career advice tips after speaking about his career journey on YC's " Lightcone Podcast," in which he explained how he self-studied and networked his way into AI. One of Brown's early jobs was at Grouper, an app that helped coordinate group dates. Grouper had an early fan in Greg Brockman, the cofounder and president of OpenAI. "He had a phase at Stripe where he would post in their thing, 'I'm going on Grouper, who's going?' for a whole year," Brown said. "I ended up being close with Greg, which ended up being my connection at OpenAI." In a follow-up email to Business Insider, Brown expanded on the importance of networking, the skill that got him his connection to Brockman. "Surround yourself with people you want to be like," Brown wrote. "You'll become more similar to them over time." He also espoused the value of mentorship: "When learning, it's much easier if you have a mentor or two and a group of friends learning alongside you," Brown wrote. Before ChatGPT launched and AI began to crop up in consumer products, working with large language models maintained a sheen of intellectualism — one Brown worried he didn't possess. "It seemed at the time that you needed to be top superstar to try to help out at all," he said on the podcast. "So I had a lot of uncertainty about whether I would be able to help." Brown said that it took "courage" to make the switch and dive into learning about AI research. He said he needed six months of self-study to feel like he wouldn't "be a drag on them." Therein lies another one of Brown's career tips, which he shared with Business Insider: know how to be helpful. "Contact people doing the work you want to do and explain your plan for helping them," he wrote. "They usually want help and will give you feedback on your approach." Brown also shared over email some of the resources he used during his six-month self-study period. He recommended " Linear Algebra Done Right" by Sheldon Axler, as well as the Google DeepMind e-book " How to Scale Your Model." He also found the career change service 80,000 Hours useful. On the podcast, Brown referenced some more self-study tools. He took Coursera courses and solved Kaggle projects. He also used a YC alum credit to buy a GPU. After his heads-down voyage into AI research, he reached out to Brockman monthly asking for work. "I messaged Greg as soon as OpenAI was announced, and I was like, 'I'd love to help out in some way. I got a B- in linear algebra, but I know some engineering. I've done a bit of distributed systems work if you guys need help. I'm happy to mop floors if you guys need. I want to help out however,'" Brown recalled. Eventually, Brockman put him on a gaming project at OpenAI. Brown said it was nine more months until he worked on anything in machine learning. In 2021, Brown left OpenAI with Dario, Daniela Amodei, and others to cofound Anthropic. Brown cautioned that he didn't think that his method back then was translatable to the current AI market: "I don't think it's the right plan now for people, too, like this was 2015," he said. But he did have some advice for the young AI hopefuls. "Taking more risk is wise, and then also trying to work on stuff where your friends would be really excited and impressed if you did it, or a more idealized version of yourself would be really proud if you succeeded at it," he said. In his email to Business Insider, Brown suggested that young people get right to work. "The best way to get good at something is usually by doing it directly," Brown wrote. "Try doing it first, then see where you fail. That will show you where you need to practice." And, to help cushion those fails, Brown had a word of wisdom: "Keep your personal expenses low."
