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Perhaps this list of billionaire dropouts may have some relevance to the topic at hand: http://www.pennylicious.com/2006/10/09/billionaire-dropouts/ http://www

Perhaps this list of billionaire dropouts may have some relevance to the topic at hand: http://www.pennylicious.com/2006/10/09/billionaire-dropouts/ http://www.pennylicious.com/2006/10/09/billionaire-dropouts/ Also listen to Steve Jobs talk about dropping out in his commencement speech: http://www.google.com/search?q=steve+jobs+commencement http://www.google.com/search?q=steve+jobs+commencement Dropping out is one of the worst things you can do if you want a job, and one of the best things you can do if you want to make sure you won't end up in one. Essentially you throw yourself in the deep end with nothing to "fall back on".

mlinsey 18y ago
Perhaps- I dropped out of college to start my first venture. It folded unexpectedly early, and afterwards I found myself without another idea I found compelling enough to put 100% into. Rather than going back to school I decided to try my luck at seeing if I could get a day job, and while my lack of a degree definitely closed a couple doors, the failed startup experience was enough to get a few offers and a job at one of the big-name large companies. It turns out that even big companies will often see startup experience as more valuable, even if as in my case the startup folded alarmingly quickly.
- hacklite 18y ago
  The thinking about start-ups has shifted over the last few years so there is more awareness, and in certain places -- esp. Silicon Valley -- it can actually be a plus even if it folded. In other places, nobody wants to touch you if you've had a failed venture. Ironically, without a diploma, your best options for getting a job at someone else's company happen to be in the same locations that are best for starting your own company regardless of diploma. Google probably won't hire you but another startup will, because they don't have diplomas, either! They just care if you are smart, and get things done.
neilc 18y ago
I'm really skeptical that there's a causal relationship between dropping out and subsequently becoming a billionaire, or otherwise very wealthy. There may be a correlation (both require independent thinking, etc.), but I think most of those billionaires would have been as successful or even more so if they'd have spent the time to finish school. And looking at a handful of examples of billionaire dropouts and then generalizing more broadly is pretty silly: that is pure selection bias. You could also look at the set of billionaires who are, say, born in June and draw similar conclusions. Either way, you're ignoring the vast number of common cases in favor of a few spectacular exceptions.
- hacklite 18y ago
  Sure, if you throw yourself in the deep end, you may sink to the bottom. However, those who make it out will be better swimmers than those who stay in the kiddie pool, that's all. > but I think most of those billionaires would have been as successful or even more so if they'd have spent the time to finish school. Dropping out can be a necessary condition due to timing reasons alone. Gates dropped out of Harvard because he was worried about missing his chance to make it big in the computer industry. There's also the non-trivial issue of losing your most energetic years as a young adult (18-22) by spending them on something other than your life ambition. Not to mention, if you aren't interested in college and force yourself to do it, that may well have such a spirit-crushing/soul-numbing effect that you kill off your own motivation to the point where you lose your drive to DO your own company. It depends on your personality. I think for the most part, ambition to take over the world as an entrepreneur is incompatible with jumping through anyone else's hoops, including sitting in class and doing what someone else tells you. So it's not that dropping out makes you a world-changer, but staying in is frustrating to the ambitions of world-changers. If you look at the Forbes 2007 list of richest Americans who didn't inherit their wealth, you get 1. Gates (college dropout), 3. Adelson (college dropout), 4. Ellison (college dropout), 5 and 6. Brin and Page (grad school dropouts), 7. Kerkorian (8th grade dropout!), 8. Dell (college dropout), 9. Allen (college dropout). Only Warren Buffet at #2 didn't drop out of school at some level, but he was already established in business before he went to college, and only went because his father pressured him into it. He hated it. (I left out the Koches because they inherited Koch Industries.) The causal effect is that the same thing that drives them to be successful also drove them to drop out.
  - neilc 18y ago
    I think you can easily get into trouble by looking at only the very richest people: by definition, they are the 1-in-a-million who took the right risks, and got fantastically lucky. Dropping out could very well be high risk, high reward -- but that doesn't mean the overall expected value is particularly high. Dropping out can be a necessary condition due to timing reasons alone. Sure, if you're sitting on an opportunity that is truly once-in-a-lifetime, then dropping out can be justified. But I think that is almost always not the case: if you have opportunities now, you'll have opportunities in a few years once you graduate. Good business ideas are not scarce. There's also the non-trivial issue of losing your most energetic years as a young adult (18-22) by spending them on something other than your life ambition. I think more people should view entrepreneurship as a career, not as something you do for a few years in your early 20s to make a few quick bucks. IMHO you have 20+ years to start businesses, and there's not much to be gained by rushing. The long-term value of a good education is considerable: credentials, quality of life, networking, and simply a much broader base of knowledge.

mlinsey 18y ago

Perhaps- I dropped out of college to start my first venture. It folded unexpectedly early, and afterwards I found myself without another idea I found compelling enough to put 100% into. Rather than going back to school I decided to try my luck at seeing if I could get a day job, and while my lack of a degree definitely closed a couple doors, the failed startup experience was enough to get a few offers and a job at one of the big-name large companies. It turns out that even big companies will often see startup experience as more valuable, even if as in my case the startup folded alarmingly quickly.

hacklite 18y ago
The thinking about start-ups has shifted over the last few years so there is more awareness, and in certain places -- esp. Silicon Valley -- it can actually be a plus even if it folded. In other places, nobody wants to touch you if you've had a failed venture. Ironically, without a diploma, your best options for getting a job at someone else's company happen to be in the same locations that are best for starting your own company regardless of diploma. Google probably won't hire you but another startup will, because they don't have diplomas, either! They just care if you are smart, and get things done.

neilc 18y ago

I'm really skeptical that there's a causal relationship between dropping out and subsequently becoming a billionaire, or otherwise very wealthy. There may be a correlation (both require independent thinking, etc.), but I think most of those billionaires would have been as successful or even more so if they'd have spent the time to finish school. And looking at a handful of examples of billionaire dropouts and then generalizing more broadly is pretty silly: that is pure selection bias. You could also look at the set of billionaires who are, say, born in June and draw similar conclusions. Either way, you're ignoring the vast number of common cases in favor of a few spectacular exceptions.

hacklite 18y ago
Sure, if you throw yourself in the deep end, you may sink to the bottom. However, those who make it out will be better swimmers than those who stay in the kiddie pool, that's all. > but I think most of those billionaires would have been as successful or even more so if they'd have spent the time to finish school. Dropping out can be a necessary condition due to timing reasons alone. Gates dropped out of Harvard because he was worried about missing his chance to make it big in the computer industry. There's also the non-trivial issue of losing your most energetic years as a young adult (18-22) by spending them on something other than your life ambition. Not to mention, if you aren't interested in college and force yourself to do it, that may well have such a spirit-crushing/soul-numbing effect that you kill off your own motivation to the point where you lose your drive to DO your own company. It depends on your personality. I think for the most part, ambition to take over the world as an entrepreneur is incompatible with jumping through anyone else's hoops, including sitting in class and doing what someone else tells you. So it's not that dropping out makes you a world-changer, but staying in is frustrating to the ambitions of world-changers. If you look at the Forbes 2007 list of richest Americans who didn't inherit their wealth, you get 1. Gates (college dropout), 3. Adelson (college dropout), 4. Ellison (college dropout), 5 and 6. Brin and Page (grad school dropouts), 7. Kerkorian (8th grade dropout!), 8. Dell (college dropout), 9. Allen (college dropout). Only Warren Buffet at #2 didn't drop out of school at some level, but he was already established in business before he went to college, and only went because his father pressured him into it. He hated it. (I left out the Koches because they inherited Koch Industries.) The causal effect is that the same thing that drives them to be successful also drove them to drop out.
- neilc 18y ago
  I think you can easily get into trouble by looking at only the very richest people: by definition, they are the 1-in-a-million who took the right risks, and got fantastically lucky. Dropping out could very well be high risk, high reward -- but that doesn't mean the overall expected value is particularly high. Dropping out can be a necessary condition due to timing reasons alone. Sure, if you're sitting on an opportunity that is truly once-in-a-lifetime, then dropping out can be justified. But I think that is almost always not the case: if you have opportunities now, you'll have opportunities in a few years once you graduate. Good business ideas are not scarce. There's also the non-trivial issue of losing your most energetic years as a young adult (18-22) by spending them on something other than your life ambition. I think more people should view entrepreneurship as a career, not as something you do for a few years in your early 20s to make a few quick bucks. IMHO you have 20+ years to start businesses, and there's not much to be gained by rushing. The long-term value of a good education is considerable: credentials, quality of life, networking, and simply a much broader base of knowledge.