A proposed new social network is hoping to entice millions of people to pay to get close to superstars of technology, business, and academia. The nascent site, called Column, already has major connections, per the deck: it involves the man who created the legal strategy that killed the gossip blog Gawker and says it has the support of Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel - who, however, denies it. Business and technology leaders are being asked to spend $100,000 buying in to the service.