Kaufman: University is unnecessary for 90% of modern professions
Micha Kaufman · Fiverr CEO & Founder, Micha Kaufman: "If You’re Not Adapting to AI, F* You. You’re Done!" · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Jun 9, 2025 · at 1:08:20
Micha Kaufman is the founder and CEO of Fiverr. On 20VC with Harry Stebbings, he advises young people on whether attending university is worth the time.
0:00 / 0:08exact quote · 8.9s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“In 90 plus cases of modern professions, you can study on your own, and you can do it in a fraction of the time.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Micha Kaufman
Kaufman: Workers who fail to adapt to AI will be poor or burdens on society
“Seriously, if you're not going to take the time to make yourself valuable, to embrace reality, you're doomed. I'm not going to help you. If you don't want to do this, you're either going to be poor or a burden on society.”
Kaufman: Workers who fail to self-upgrade in the AI era are done
“But if not, fuck you. You're done. You're done. You're not done at Fiverr. You're done. Period. Because no one, there's not going to be demand for people that cannot upgrade themselves.”
Kaufman expects every Fiverr employee to automate 100% of their role
“In an ideal situation, my expectation of you is that each and every one of you, and it doesn't matter what you do, Is going to replace a hundred percent of what you do with automation.”
Micha Kaufman: The AI startup hype cycle mirrors the dot-com bubble
“I feel that we are in a period that is very similar to the .com, but it's now .ai. So it used to be pets.com, it's now pets.ai. Whatever, it's the same bullshit.”
Micha Kaufman: Copyright law is dead overnight due to generative AI
“You know, that copyright is dead essentially. It is dead. It's a notion from 1710, and it's dead overnight. There is no copyright. It's done. It's dead.”
Kaufman: Governments will not allow superintelligent AI to remain in private hands
“What AI companies is doing right now that like the foundational companies, It's like privatizing the Manhattan Project. Ok? Alright, so imagine that they do build the atomic bomb. And now they're sitting and saying, ah, you know, I don't know, maybe we'll do i…”