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A Degree is NOT a Fall Back Plan, SKILLS Are

carlos_

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I'd always known I wanted to own a business, but during school - perhaps to rationalize the drudgery, I'd make the comment, "at least I'll have this degree to fall back on if I fail at my dreams" - This was the wrong attitude... for a few reasons.

One:
I shouldn't have shortchanged my dreams like that. I didn't realize what was happening at the time, but I was suffering from positive thinking absent action. From an early age I seemed to carry a belief that things would just work out, because why not. "I really want it, so I'm sure it'll happen".... well, I seem to have really internalized that believe and years later I'm just seeing it.

Two:
a degree is not a fall back plan, a SKILL is a fallback plan.

a Skill is something you can churn to generate cash - your wife wants a new porch? churn your hours working on websites and get the cash to treat her (@Andy Black ). What fortune 500 corp will pad your paycheck because you put in superior effort one week with extra hours? - Let me tell you - NONE. I'm a salaried employee at a fortune 500, and I can tell you my paycheck is the same on weeks I give 110% as the weeks I'm so tired I barely make make 90%


More on Skills: which skill to choose. I'm seeing several successful entrepreneurs who generally specialize in one of a few skills needed for a Fastlane business. Web design(@Fox ), copy(@SinisterLex ), sourcing(@Walter Hay ), publishing, real estate deal-making(@SteveO ). Even non-fastlane skills like auto-painting(@RHL ), or installing networking are more profitable fall back plans than a Degree. think about it. PAINTING: investment: $2,000 equipment 1mo training. regular income, 2-5k/month. Degree: investment: $60K, 4 years training. regular income: 3-6K/mo rising 5% annually if nothing bad happens. oh yeah, and you won't have energy to pursue real wealth, almost zero flexibility to set hours, or take time away from work


I'm lucky to have a fastlane-minded wife who supports me (support is a soft word for it, she just came back from Iran telling me all the ideas she had for selling highly profitable products there and for me to buck up and figure out how to sell them - sorry guys, Persian Uber has already been taken). We've agreed I'll keep working until I can develop a SKILL that generates the same income as my job before I dip out so she doesn't risk stressing out about supporting a bum wantrepreneur.


WANTREPRENEUR - more on that word. Yea, that’s me. Until I make my first sale, I’m a WANTREPRENEUR, that’s where I’ve set the bar for myself. my goal is to shed this title before the end of the year.


While I’m still working my J.O.B., I’m spending hours of my free time every single day on my new blueprint:
Step 1: develop a skill to shed the J.O.B.
Step 2: use new skill, spend the increased amount of free time towards developing a fastlane business
Step 3: EXPLOSIVE NET INCOME + ASSET VALUE (just re-listened to that chapter today, 11/10 would recommend)

I have not come close to mentioning all the influences that have given me knowledge here. I give a final shout out to @MJ DeMarco

Man, MJ - you swung the boot what, 6 years ago? but it hit me in the seat of my pants a few weeks ago. I'm back in - my dreams aren't wishes anymore. They're not blurry images off in the future just out of grasp, just there enough to make me believe I'm closing in. I know what I need to do, and holy shit, could it be that it's a matter of months before I see progress? that's not blurry or off in the distance!

Your book caught me right as I was falling into the beliefs of: "save xx% of your income, live like you're lower middle class, grow a mustache, and you'll be independent."

Thanks for putting your value out there in the world.




additional mentions: I couldn't fit you into the story, but some of your nuggets are in my mind
@jon.a - go get your weight
@IceCreamKid - Ice Cream = Business success *mind blown*
@Joe Cassandra - quit your job, learn to write
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Great write up and marked NOTABLE. Why? Because it needs to be pounded into the heads of some young people. We hear "the degree is a fall-back plan" here all the time. I mention it in Unscripted . Your degree is no better than a fall-back as a shovel in your garage.

The best fall-back is SKILL. KNOWLEDGE. And everlasting learning.

Screen Shot 2017-09-14 at 9.16.42 AM.png
 

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Knowledge of skills being the fallback plan, is what gave me the confidence to quit my job.

My business was making twice my teacher paycheck. So, I knew the money was there.

Knowing that I had 3 or 4 money making skills (exchanging time for money) that I could deploy on a moment's notice, if the shit hit the fan, was what sealed the deal on my decision.
 

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I didn't get a degree because poverty meant that I had to quit high school before completion. Subsequently, when running my own highly successful specialty chemical business, I was visited by sales representatives from large chemical companies.

Every one of them had degrees..... in Economics, Business Administration, Engineering, or PHDs in irrelevant subjects. I knew more about their chemical products than they did. Most couldn't answer anything but the most basic questions.

Their degrees had got them ordinary jobs that they were unsuited for, and it was evident that most were complacent or just bored silly. With no formal qualifications I had hustled and built an international business in a highly technical field and was not only enjoying myself, I was also making money hand over fist.

Would a degree have taught me how to rapidly acquire the knowledge that I needed or how to solve complex chemical/mechanical problems? My skills were mainly street smarts, determination, and knowing how to keep smiling when the going was tough.

Walter
 
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carlos_

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My skills were mainly street smarts, determination, and knowing how to keep smiling when the going was tough.

Thanks for your post Walter

I bought your book last week and a funny thing happened today:
My wife was on Instagram where she likes to stay up to date with fashion and fitness trends for women, when she saw an awesome product that solves a common need. She immediately followed through to purchase two (one for her sister and her) when she arrived to a sold out listing. She backed out and started looking for other sellers, but there were none. Immediately something clicked and she texted me and told me we have to start selling these, because the problem they solve is incredibly common. (She's only half way through TMF and she's already getting a knack for identifying opportunities to play on team Producer)

The Need is there, the market is there (buying behavior established), and for some reason, only one seller has created this thing and their sold out. all I need to do is act fast to test the profitability and opportunity to improve on the competitors design, and I'll be on my way to my goal of first sale before year end.

I expect to have my nose in your book, your thread, and @biophase 's thread as well - contacting manufacturers for the next few days
 

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You also need hustle. Hustle beats any skill. There are starving app developers, engineers, and lawyers waiting on interviews for jobs which they're more than qualified for. No hustle, though, so they're not selling their skills. They're not out there trying to seize opportunity, so they starve. I've fallen into this trap, too: easy to get complacent when work just falls into your lap. When it dries up, your hustle is what's gonna keep you fed.
 

Walter Hay

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Thanks for your post Walter

I bought your book last week and a funny thing happened today:
My wife was on Instagram where she likes to stay up to date with fashion and fitness trends for women, when she saw an awesome product that solves a common need. She immediately followed through to purchase two (one for her sister and her) when she arrived to a sold out listing. She backed out and started looking for other sellers, but there were none. Immediately something clicked and she texted me and told me we have to start selling these, because the problem they solve is incredibly common. (She's only half way through TMF and she's already getting a knack for identifying opportunities to play on team Producer)

The Need is there, the market is there (buying behavior established), and for some reason, only one seller has created this thing and their sold out. all I need to do is act fast to test the profitability and opportunity to improve on the competitors design, and I'll be on my way to my goal of first sale before year end.

I expect to have my nose in your book, your thread, and @biophase 's thread as well - contacting manufacturers for the next few days
That's great. I looks as though your wife is learning to hustle. She not only saw an opportunity, but she acted on it - even though that was through you.

We will look forward to learning of your success, and your wife's.

Walter
 
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Great write up and marked NOTABLE. Why? Because it needs to be pounded into the heads of some young people. We hear "the degree is a fall-back plan" here all the time. I mention it in Unscripted . Your degree is no better than a fall-back as a shovel in your garage.

The best fall-back is SKILL. KNOWLEDGE. And everlasting learning.

View attachment 16347
Bingo.
A degree does not necessarily represent skill.

These mornings, I have been waking up wondering 'What in the hell am I doing with my life?'
I have had to push off Fastlane activties and potential meetups with e-commerce people and other things that could earn me skills and cash in favour for studying to get a degree....which was nothing more than paperwork. Assignments and quizzes.

If I had to choose between money earned from providing value and grades that represent some kind of fictionalised token economy (which employers know that is an illusion), I would choose the former.

Last time I checked, those aren't skills that help solve problems.

I'm not the only one facing this quandary.
My dorm mates keep complaining on their struggles to get good grades. How they screwed up in this paper and that paper. When I ask what they would do about it, they just hum and haw and say, "But you need a degree to get a job."

Looking at this fracas, I think I'll just stick to writing copy or reselling, after I have gotten away with the obligations (or debt) of my current exams.

I didn't get a degree because poverty meant that I had to quit high school before completion. Subsequently, when running my own highly successful specialty chemical business, I was visited by sales representatives from large chemical companies.

Every one of them had degrees..... in Economics, Business Administration, Engineering, or PHDs in irrelevant subjects. I knew more about their chemical products than they did. Most couldn't answer anything but the most basic questions.

Their degrees had got them ordinary jobs that they were unsuited for, and it was evident that most were complacent or just bored silly. With no formal qualifications I had hustled and built an international business in a highly technical field and was not only enjoying myself, I was also making money hand over fist.

Would a degree have taught me how to rapidly acquire the knowledge that I needed or how to solve complex chemical/mechanical problems? My skills were mainly street smarts, determination, and knowing how to keep smiling when the going was tough.

Walter
I can vouch for this. My dad took this route, although his business isn't wholly Fastlane. But he earns well. He had a diploma in electrical engineering. A welder by trade. Did spare parts for a few top companies in the semiconductor industry.
But I didn't like the field because there were lots of others doing it besides him...lower entry barrier. And he was more service-based rather than product based...which would have allowed more potential for time detachment.

I don't know why he keeps asking me to study overseas. He didn't take that route to success. And he has fared way better than his cleverer friends.

In fact, his other classmate in high school, who was a failure in studies, went to work and helped build Secret Recipe, a renowned restaurant and cakes outlet in my country.

Realising that your four years spent on a degree (in my case, six years as I am currently having 1 and a half years of pre-uni studies) equaled to a freedom sucking and mediocre job could be the worst nightmare of my life besides clowns with balloons. :inpain:
 

ColbyG

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Interesting read. When I left school, I got a trade. That trade makes me money and continues to make me money while I'm currently getting a degree in Engineering. While the engineering degree will be valuable, it will be my trade (or skill) that will actually be my fallback. The degree is for the next step in my master plan.
 
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I'd always known I wanted to own a business, but during school - perhaps to rationalize the drudgery, I'd make the comment, "at least I'll have this degree to fall back on if I fail at my dreams" - This was the wrong attitude... for a few reasons.

One:
I shouldn't have shortchanged my dreams like that. I didn't realize what was happening at the time, but I was suffering from positive thinking absent action. From an early age I seemed to carry a belief that things would just work out, because why not. "I really want it, so I'm sure it'll happen".... well, I seem to have really internalized that believe and years later I'm just seeing it.

Two:
a degree is not a fall back plan, a SKILL is a fallback plan.

a Skill is something you can churn to generate cash - your wife wants a new porch? churn your hours working on websites and get the cash to treat her (@Andy Black ). What fortune 500 corp will pad your paycheck because you put in superior effort one week with extra hours? - Let me tell you - NONE. I'm a salaried employee at a fortune 500, and I can tell you my paycheck is the same on weeks I give 110% as the weeks I'm so tired I barely make make 90%


More on Skills: which skill to choose. I'm seeing several successful entrepreneurs who generally specialize in one of a few skills needed for a Fastlane business. Web design(@Fox ), copy(@SinisterLex ), sourcing(@Walter Hay ), publishing, real estate deal-making(@SteveO ). Even non-fastlane skills like auto-painting(@RHL ), or installing networking are more profitable fall back plans than a Degree. think about it. PAINTING: investment: $2,000 equipment 1mo training. regular income, 2-5k/month. Degree: investment: $60K, 4 years training. regular income: 3-6K/mo rising 5% annually if nothing bad happens. oh yeah, and you won't have energy to pursue real wealth, almost zero flexibility to set hours, or take time away from work


I'm lucky to have a fastlane-minded wife who supports me (support is a soft word for it, she just came back from Iran telling me all the ideas she had for selling highly profitable products there and for me to buck up and figure out how to sell them - sorry guys, Persian Uber has already been taken). We've agreed I'll keep working until I can develop a SKILL that generates the same income as my job before I dip out so she doesn't risk stressing out about supporting a bum wantrepreneur.


WANTREPRENEUR - more on that word. Yea, that’s me. Until I make my first sale, I’m a WANTREPRENEUR, that’s where I’ve set the bar for myself. my goal is to shed this title before the end of the year.


While I’m still working my J.O.B., I’m spending hours of my free time every single day on my new blueprint:
Step 1: develop a skill to shed the J.O.B.
Step 2: use new skill, spend the increased amount of free time towards developing a fastlane business
Step 3: EXPLOSIVE NET INCOME + ASSET VALUE (just re-listened to that chapter today, 11/10 would recommend)

I have not come close to mentioning all the influences that have given me knowledge here. I give a final shout out to @MJ DeMarco

Man, MJ - you swung the boot what, 6 years ago? but it hit me in the seat of my pants a few weeks ago. I'm back in - my dreams aren't wishes anymore. They're not blurry images off in the future just out of grasp, just there enough to make me believe I'm closing in. I know what I need to do, and holy shit, could it be that it's a matter of months before I see progress? that's not blurry or off in the distance!

Your book caught me right as I was falling into the beliefs of: "save xx% of your income, live like you're lower middle class, grow a mustache, and you'll be independent."

Thanks for putting your value out there in the world.




additional mentions: I couldn't fit you into the story, but some of your nuggets are in my mind
@jon.a - go get your weight
@IceCreamKid - Ice Cream = Business success *mind blown*
@Joe Cassandra - quit your job, learn to write
Rep!

Love the thread title. So apt too as I was just yesterday having a discussion with my stepson who is starting year 3 of his 4 year degree and wants to just get out there and work.



Learn a skill.
Sell that skill.
Scale that skill.

That's the path I'm going down.

And this sliding scale:
Employee.
Contractor.
Freelancer.
Agency.
Productised Service.
Platform.


Question for you:
Instead of making a sale by the end of the year, can you make a sale in the next 7 days?
 

carlos_

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Question for you:
Instead of making a sale by the end of the year, can you make a sale in the next 7 days?

Thanks Andy!

Wow, this hit me - started reading 7-day startup yesterday and have about an hour left in the book.

Challenge Accepted

Day 1 - Idea
 

ApeRunner

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And this sliding scale:
Employee.
Contractor.
Freelancer.
Agency.
Productised Service.
Platform.

Andy, what would be the difference between a contractor and a freelancer?
 
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Andy Black

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Andy, what would be the difference between a contractor and a freelancer?
It's my own terminology based on my own path.

Contractor = Onsite

Freelancer = Offsite

Both invoice the client.
 

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I agree with you, skill and demand is what it ultimately comes down to but I hope an 18 year old doesn't read this and think they should give up on having a degree.

At the end of the day it depends on what degree we're talking about.
 
Last edited:

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Great post @carlos_, thanks for sharing.

A lot of what you said sounds very familiar.

I have wasted years looking for a perfect skill to learn.

I have wasted years trying to learn everything at the same time.

I have wasted years solving problems I didn't have back then.

I have wasted years thinking I had to be an absolute expert to sell in the marketplace.

When I started creating value for people with things I knew already, instead of learning a skill, I finally was able to quit my job.

It all made sense when I stopped learning and started helping people, with whatever they needed.

Sometimes, it's the things that are right under our noses.

Further reading that might help:
 
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Owner2Millions

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How about these degrees representing a useful SKILL:
  • Philosophy
  • Archeology
  • Music
  • Fashion design
  • Nutrition
  • Art history
  • May I say Psychology?

Actually. I think all of those could be a skill if you marketed it and sold it. Especially nutrition.

Also I 10000% agree with this thread title. Let's not forget more and more people are getting degrees. So isn't the economic value of the 4 year degree going down if everyone has them and everyone is competing for the same jobs? Wouldn't that make jobs start requiring a Master's degree for a lot of jobs? I would think the law of supply and demand still stands.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ZF Lee

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Actually. I think all of those could be a skill if you marketed it and sold it. Especially nutrition.

Also I 10000% agree with this thread title. Let's not forget more and more people are getting degrees. So isn't the economic value of the 4 year degree going down if everyone has them and everyone is competing for the same jobs? Wouldn't that make jobs start requiring a Master's degree for a lot of jobs? I would think the law of supply and demand still stands.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Already I am hearing word that Masters' degree is the new minimum requirement for promotions.

Semiconductor business. My dad was hyping all about it. Funny though, the old man has his own business and he didn't have a Masters...

He got word from some engineer at one of the bigger companies.

Apparently the engineer works his job for he first half of the day, and studies for the Masters at night. Online, long distance program.

I'm wondering if he could have used the study time to do something else like freelancing (drawing and designing for non-engineers) or building a side business....

But seriously, no amount of studying isn't going to 100% prepare you to provide tremendous value. None!

Even if it is to gain credibility, let's be honest...all CVs will look great. Somehow I run into some actual CVs on Scribd (Why people put up their personal stuff there is beyond me, but info is info), and yes, they all look as picturesque as snow tops on the Alps.

Credibility and actual delivery of value is NOT solved by going for a Masters.

When one steps up to harder games, especially in the entrepreneurial context, you face more uncertain and different things. And they take time and energy to master and overcome. To delay the inevitable with a Masters' study period would be a no-go.

A Masters' route is probably one of the best things an intellectual can do, but it's noble purpose has been f*cked up by people who just want pay raises and promotions.

Still, I do not hope that my entire value skew consists SOLELY of paper degrees or Masters.
 
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I agree with this. No skills, no options, and you're only as good as your options. In every venture I pursue I ensure that the absolute worse case scenario is that I return temporarily to the workforce with better skills and knowledge, and am able to demand a respectable wage.

Although my field is IT/Programming - and that's changing all the time. If you want to be a doctor or lawyer, well you need the degree. The degree alone is the baseline though... It still comes down to having skills.
 

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Doesn't college give you some skills? Maybe I would say that college doesn’t give you any valuable skills because of many reasons (saturation of the demand, old jobs etc.) but this can’t be generalized. If you do engineer, you don’t have any valuable skill?
 

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Doesn't college give you some skills? Maybe I would say that college doesn’t give you any valuable skills because of many reasons (saturation of the demand, old jobs etc.) but this can’t be generalized. If you do engineer, you don’t have any valuable skill?

If your career is a doctor, college gives you skills.

If you are an ENTREPRENEUR, college is dated, narrow and overpriced knowledge.

My 2 CENTS.
 
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I'd always known I wanted to own a business, but during school - perhaps to rationalize the drudgery, I'd make the comment, "at least I'll have this degree to fall back on if I fail at my dreams" - This was the wrong attitude... for a few reasons.

One:
I shouldn't have shortchanged my dreams like that. I didn't realize what was happening at the time, but I was suffering from positive thinking absent action. From an early age I seemed to carry a belief that things would just work out, because why not. "I really want it, so I'm sure it'll happen".... well, I seem to have really internalized that believe and years later I'm just seeing it.

Two:
a degree is not a fall back plan, a SKILL is a fallback plan.

a Skill is something you can churn to generate cash - your wife wants a new porch? churn your hours working on websites and get the cash to treat her (@Andy Black ). What fortune 500 corp will pad your paycheck because you put in superior effort one week with extra hours? - Let me tell you - NONE. I'm a salaried employee at a fortune 500, and I can tell you my paycheck is the same on weeks I give 110% as the weeks I'm so tired I barely make make 90%


More on Skills: which skill to choose. I'm seeing several successful entrepreneurs who generally specialize in one of a few skills needed for a Fastlane business. Web design(@Fox ), copy(@SinisterLex ), sourcing(@Walter Hay ), publishing, real estate deal-making(@SteveO ). Even non-fastlane skills like auto-painting(@RHL ), or installing networking are more profitable fall back plans than a Degree. think about it. PAINTING: investment: $2,000 equipment 1mo training. regular income, 2-5k/month. Degree: investment: $60K, 4 years training. regular income: 3-6K/mo rising 5% annually if nothing bad happens. oh yeah, and you won't have energy to pursue real wealth, almost zero flexibility to set hours, or take time away from work


I'm lucky to have a fastlane-minded wife who supports me (support is a soft word for it, she just came back from Iran telling me all the ideas she had for selling highly profitable products there and for me to buck up and figure out how to sell them - sorry guys, Persian Uber has already been taken). We've agreed I'll keep working until I can develop a SKILL that generates the same income as my job before I dip out so she doesn't risk stressing out about supporting a bum wantrepreneur.


WANTREPRENEUR - more on that word. Yea, that’s me. Until I make my first sale, I’m a WANTREPRENEUR, that’s where I’ve set the bar for myself. my goal is to shed this title before the end of the year.


While I’m still working my J.O.B., I’m spending hours of my free time every single day on my new blueprint:
Step 1: develop a skill to shed the J.O.B.
Step 2: use new skill, spend the increased amount of free time towards developing a fastlane business
Step 3: EXPLOSIVE NET INCOME + ASSET VALUE (just re-listened to that chapter today, 11/10 would recommend)

I have not come close to mentioning all the influences that have given me knowledge here. I give a final shout out to @MJ DeMarco

Man, MJ - you swung the boot what, 6 years ago? but it hit me in the seat of my pants a few weeks ago. I'm back in - my dreams aren't wishes anymore. They're not blurry images off in the future just out of grasp, just there enough to make me believe I'm closing in. I know what I need to do, and holy shit, could it be that it's a matter of months before I see progress? that's not blurry or off in the distance!

Your book caught me right as I was falling into the beliefs of: "save xx% of your income, live like you're lower middle class, grow a mustache, and you'll be independent."

Thanks for putting your value out there in the world.




additional mentions: I couldn't fit you into the story, but some of your nuggets are in my mind
@jon.a - go get your weight
@IceCreamKid - Ice Cream = Business success *mind blown*
@Joe Cassandra - quit your job, learn to write
Thanks for the nice write up and your perspective.
 

Mario_fastlaner

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If your career is a doctor, college gives you skills.

If you are an ENTREPRENEUR, college is dated, narrow and overpriced knowledge.

My 2 CENTS.
Yeah I agree with you, imo sometimes college is actually a good fall back plan. (My opinion is however influenced by the fact that here college is not as expensive as in the US). You can graduate in engineer with 10-20k on college taxes.
 

Tourmaline

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College may give you knowledge. Experience gives you skills.

Would you rather hire someone that studied sales for 4 years? Or has been a sales man for 4 years?

Even the language is revealing. One is a sales man by virtue of having actually practiced and thus actually has experience. The other just has knowledge.
 
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Ing

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Wow, an interesting theme!

I studied over 30 years ago. It was a plan to get my dream job in national required cars supervision.

The way to the degree was quite long, but beneeth that, I had time to get other skills.
I was working in bike workshops. Thats a fall back plan.
I was working in car workshops. I began making a business for bike parts, a business for private sales opportunities. There I learned real fall back plans.

When I was young, I read books about psychology, even some get rich books.

When I had my degree, it was a ticket into that dream job.
I had my nearly 100 k from the beginning. The job is still fun.
I could be happy .

BUT now something happened: I began to read get rich books and ended up with tfm.

Now I again dream about getting new skills in internet marketing and building a business with my sons.

And reading this thread, I remember, that the skills I got beneeth studiing were much more worth than only wasing time!

I hadnt to be afraid of loosing my job. That makes it much easier with bad bosses.
I hadnt the problems of other colleagues, who often don’t know, what about they are talking.
 
Last edited:

Kevin88660

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I still advise getting your degree unless its obvious that doing something else is a far better deal.

Many good university in U.S. actually are better for you to start a business there. All the attention and VC alumni are there.

While I understand business take a lot of time, it is not impossible to do a business while you scrape through your grades. Just do not expect super good grades.

Not having a degree could hunt you in many ways, BEFORE you become successful. People talk about how brave you are but they NEVER accept you. Graduate girls mostly do not even consider you to date. It is far easier to scrape through a degree.
 

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