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Malaysian Government Orders Shutdown of 'The Network School' Startup Community

malaysian government network school balaji srinivasan

En resumen

The Malaysian government has ordered the shutdown of The Network School, a startup-centric community based in an abandoned hotel.
Founded on entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan's vision for a "new country," the program faced complaints from attendees about conditions.
Srinivasan, who renounced his American citizenship, declared himself Singaporean after inquiries from The Wall Street Journal.

Resumen generado por IA

Por qué importa

The Network School, described as "a frontier community for techno-optimists," was based on entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan’s conviction that the United States is in irreversible decline, with a goal to "start a new country."

Tamaño de fuente

The Malaysian government has ordered the shutdown of a startup-centric community called the Network School, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Billing itself as “a frontier community for techno-optimists,” the Network School reportedly grew out of entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan’s conviction that the United States is in irreversible decline; Srinivasan has said his goal is “to start a new country.”

So the Network School is supposed to represent the first step in a seven-stage plan (outlined in Srinivasan’s book “The Network State”) for building a new society. Based in an abandoned Malaysian hotel, the WSJ described the program as “part tech incubator, part self-improvement retreat.” Attendees, however, complained about moldy rooms, as well as a dearth of women and nightlife.

After receiving questions from the WSJ, Srinivasan – who apparently renounced his American citizenship in 2023 — published a lengthy post on X declaring himself “a proud Singaporean” and complaining that the WSJ was working on a “hit piece” that would make him look like “an odd duck […] as opposed to an early adopter.”