James Proud grew up in a particularly rough part of South London. At age 12, when he started earning spending money by designing websites, his mom thought he had become a drug dealer. (He reminded his mom that drug dealers probably don't get their checks in the mail.
That didn't take long. Just a week after Peter Thiel's foundation announced its second class of fellows, its first one just had its first exit. James Proud, who hails from South London, just sold his company GigLocator to Peter Shapiro, the owner of the Williamsburg-based Brooklyn Bowl.