[lmm]

That's an awfully high "minimum". I knew several "geniuses" at that age (might even qualify myself, though admittedly I was only three years ahead of par at that age); most of them have gone on to fairly normal (though by no means unsuccessful) careers, and a couple burned out quite spectacularly. I don't think putting that weight of expectation on is helpful.

[Hitchhiker]

In deed, you remind me of Solon's warning. Perhaps the better way to put it is he's attacking one heck of a problem - and with the right detachment to both industry and academia - so the minimum is based more on the quality of problems than the individual ( as unique as that is in this particular case ).

But yes, being an entrepreneur is an added layer, as you've to learn to arrange people to attain a larger goal than just research.

And he shows signs of that even on the jobs page while avoiding the broken method of interviewing that is oft practiced, he's almost defining a boundary for relatively high signal from the applicants.

His fluid approach is reminiscent of the caper that the Google guys pulled at Stanford.. and as it turns out, I think he also got funded by Larry.