Do you think college is necessary for entrepreneurs?

[ceoarob]

The question that has been churning in my mind as of late is this:

Is college really necessary to becoming an entrepreneur?

Let me share my personal experiences....

This is all just coming straight from the heart....

---------------------------

Before I attended University, I thought that I'd experience intellectual stimulation beyond belief, that I'd meet like minded peers who aimed for the highest virtues in life, and that the classes I took would help me succeed as a budding entrepreneur in the future.

Needless to say, I was quickly disillusioned. (Perhaps it was the first frat party I went to...)

From my personal experience, college seeks to promote itself. It seems that they're only interested in getting you in the door, and providing you with a low quality service that is HIGHLY overpriced. Professors have too much power. The entire "tenure" system allows for crappy professors to keep their job even if they aren't providing value to students. The "learning" aspect of it seems limited to only multiple choice tests, essays and term papers, and a myriad of homework assignments.

As my college life began, I entered with as much ebullience and zest as any teenager would; quenching knowledge and desiring a "true education" in the ways of the world. Near the beginning of the semester, I'd start my classes, everyone would be excited, and the class syllabus was given along with the course schedule and assignment calendar.

For about 4 weeks or so, I'd accomplish all homework, papers, and tasks with such alacrity and speed that I'd find myself with more free time to do as I chose. I spent most of this free-time HEAVILY networking, always expanding my social circle, playing piano, participating in extra-curriculars (mainly chorus and arts), and making the most of my college experience.

Then, the glow wore off and I realized, "something is askew..."

I'd go to classes which seemed to get longer and more boring with every session, and I'd end up falling asleep or browsing the web. Now, I LOVE learning about new thing, but in the battle between learning about Eukaroyotic Cell reproduction and Facebook, Mark Zuckerburg's creation proved ultimate victor every time.

The more the glow wore off, the more I realized that (behind the scenes) colleges are really only focused about increasing their rankings among other colleges, making sure that their alumni donate, pumping money into the sciences and engineering, and keeping their football teams ranked #1.

Now, there are some GREAT things about college. For me, I got to meet alot of wonderful people who I hold dear to my heart, I had some great experiences socially, and I even learned a thing or two about time-management.

HOWEVER,

It seemed that I learned ALOT more *outside* the classroom than I ever did *inside* the classroom. Specifically, about entrepreneurship.

Even though I was taking the important "business classes", I was actually learning VERY LITTLE about how to run a successful business. Nothing I did in regards to academia sought to enhance my creativity, innovation, or outlook for the world. Everything seemed so rigid, structured, and it was "my way or the highway" with regards to certain professors.

It seemed that college stifled my creativity and taught me very little about entrepreneurship, let alone making money.

-----------------------

Over 90% of the things that I've learned about making money and entrepreneurship seem to have come from my own studies, direct encounters with entrepreneurs, my own readings, my own experimentation, and taking action. These were all things that I learned *outside* of the classroom, or even out of college.

The MOST valuable thing that I learned to do at college was network and hone in my social skills. Other than that, you could say that academia was a waste for me.

It was a HUGE turnaround from the way that I regarded academia in high school where I always sought to excel. AP Classes, straight A's, and studying were always my thing. However, that all came to change when I realized that college wasn't helping my dreams as an entrepreneur and was in fact (for me), bullshit.

---------------------------------

Granted, an individual could definitely learn skills such as time management, self-discipline, work ethic. But it seems that so much MORE could be taught by direct experience and just "jumping in" to do whatever you want to do.

I believe that college is right for doctors, lawyers, accountants, and people who want to get a "steady, professional job". If you want to have a high intrinsic value (Keyword in "The Fastlane to Millions"; great read) to your employer, then get a college degree of some sort. You'll increase your hourly/yearly earnings, and end up earning more.

At what cost though? You're still trading time for money and you're never going to end up truly rich and truly free....

So all of this has led me to conclude:

College is great for employees, but not entrepreneurs.

-----------------------------------

I'd love to hear some feedback about this entire idea, but I have some very specific questions that have been on my mind:

1) Is school really necessary for enteprenuers of today? Why or why not?
2) Do schools today kill or cultivate entrepreneurship and innovation?
3) What could be done to facilitate entrepreneurship among youth? Should organizations, social network, or new education systems be established?

Entrepreneurs don't need college to be successful. That's just *my* opinion, and it's been running through my mind for the longest time...

Love to hear from ya,

-AR

 

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[Darkside]

I think taking the college route is actually detrimental to the odds of becoming an entrepreneur. For one thing, you waste 4 years earning a document that says you are competent enough to work for someone else.

You could have spent those four years building a business or improving yourself in other ways like self education that's directed towards what you're interested in as opposed to college courses that you know will not benefit you after graduation.

The average student leaves college today with so much debt that they are forced to get a job immediately after graduation and work for several decades to pay off that debt, which tends to force them to do jobs that they don't really want to do but are forced to take because they are high paying.

By the time the typical person is done paying off their student loan debt they're middle aged and probably have kids who will be heading off to college themselves soon which will make it highly unlikely that their parents will risk starting a business when they have their childrens' college education to pay for and their retirement savings to protect.

It's really a form of indentured servitude; you are forced to trade decades of your life to receive a document that lets the world know you graduated from such and such university which means that you are competent enough to be hired.

I would be less harsh on colleges and universities if their actual aim was to teach and facilitate creativity and progress like they used to leading up to the midpoint of the last century. But, colleges and universities today are only interested in teaching students how to be good middle and upper management employees who can then donate money back to the college once they become alumni.

They focus on attracting the valedictorian type of students because they know they will slave away for four years to get a 4.0 so that when they graduate they can be hired by some prestigious law firm or a corporation where they will slave away for their boss to make a six figure salary and become "successful" in the eyes of their universities staff.

Imagine if Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, or Steve Jobs had finished college and gotten a job; they likely wouldn't have started their respective companies and would have lived mediocre lives compared to what they've achieved.

 

[SuccessInMind]

No, I don't think college is needed to be successful.

1) The education system is made to make everyone work for someone else. They don't have classes on How to Fulfill People's Needs 101. Therefore, school is not needed to become an entrepreneur. Education is required however, and there's a difference (learned that from MJ's book).

2) Personally, I haven't seen or been to a school that does breed entrepreneurship and innovation, but maybe I just haven't been privileged enough to go/see those types of schools. Again, the education systems are built to make everyone work for someone else.

3) In order to facilitate entrepreneurship among youth the education system has to be reformed. As someone on this forum has mentioned before, the way school operates has not really changed since the Industrial Revolution. A new educational system would have to be formed with the purpose of cultivating entrepreneurial thought.

 

[Darkside]

No, I don't think college is needed to be successful.

1) The education system is made to make everyone work for someone else. They don't have classes on How to Fulfill People's Needs 101. Therefore, school is not needed to become an entrepreneur. Education is required however, and there's a difference (learned that from MJ's book).

2) Personally, I haven't seen or been to a school that does breed entrepreneurship and innovation, but maybe I just haven't been privileged enough to go/see those types of schools. Again, the education systems are built to make everyone work for someone else.

3) In order to facilitate entrepreneurship among youth the education system has to be reformed. As someone on this forum has mentioned before, the way school operates has not really changed since the Industrial Revolution. A new educational system would have to be formed with the purpose of cultivating entrepreneurial thought.

I think universities used to foster innovation and creativity back when only the wealthy could afford to attend them. During the 1500-1900 period, wealthy people sent their children to universities not so that they could get jobs working for someone else but rather so that they could become more enlightened and well rounded people; they would learn not only math and the sciences but also the arts as well as learn how to think critically and discuss important issues with one another.

Our founding fathers were the product of such university systems as most of them were of the upper class in America. Does anyone think that if Thomas Jefferson went to one of today's universities that he would have been as great a thinker as he was? I don't believe so; he would have been a corporate drone or a lawyer for a big law firm.

That's why I'm not surprised that there haven't really been any great contributors to human knowledge and progress since the mid-point of the 20th century. There are no towering intellectuals like Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, etc. who accomplish great things anymore. The best you can get today is some arm chair professor who spouts off about his wild theory just to get headlines but doesn't accomplish anything significant.

 

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[camski]

I think that people should look at formal education as an investment. What kind of ROI do you expect from it? My personal opinion is that unless you want to pursue a career in a specialized field where a degree is required(doctor, lawyer) then the price these days for a four year, room and board based degree is not worth it. So having said that if you want to be an entrepreneur, there is no need for any kind of formal education. For business and entrepreurism, their exists too much free knowledge out there to justify going to college.

 

[Runum]

Is college really necessary to becoming an entrepreneur?

In answer to the original question, no, it's not necessary.

However, ceoarob, it sounds to me that you may have fallen into the event vs the process that MJ has written about. Most people I know in school follow the same pattern. You want the class and the education to be a series of events rather than a process of learning.

I think college is like anything else, you get out what you put in. Ceoarob, you need to ask yourself what the ultimate goal is and then figure whether a formal education fits into those goals.

I spent most of this free-time HEAVILY networking, always expanding my social circle, playing piano, participating in extra-curriculars (mainly chorus and arts), and making the most of my college experience.

Great, how do those activities play into the ultimate goal? If they are important to your process and you give up after a few weeks, that says more about you than the college.

Good luck on your journey.

 

[Felix II]

I don't think college is required to be an entrepreneur. But, that being said, it is my college education that will make me my first million.

How?

My degree in engineering gives me the ability to design and build tangible products that would otherwise cost me six figures to have developed. Granted, I could possibly find ways to raise the money to develop my ideas but then again I'd have to have a success sooner rather than later. Developing it myself, I can have many failures and still afford to continue.

For instance, the product I'm working on now. I figure it would be close to $120,000 if I had to hire someone to do the work. If it doesn't succeed then that would be a huge investment to lose as a beginning entrepreneur. doing it myself, I work nights and weekends, and if it doesn't succeed I only lose the few thousand $$ for material costs and whatever time I put into it. Then I move straight into the next one (actually, I'm never doing only one at a time.)

I never attended college with the idea of "working" for a living. I attended with the idea that I wanted to learn how things work, and add a weapon to aid in becoming on entrepreneur.

I don't intend to do product development or work with technology forever. Just long enough to make enough money to pursue whatever ventures I want. College was just a stepping stone in that direction.

 

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[Rickson9]

1) Is school really necessary for enteprenuers of today? Why or why not?

I believe that entrepreneurs are born, not taught.

It is unfortunate when a person is not an entrepreneur but believes that they are. Vice versa.

I recognized early that I wasn't entrepreneurial and that has saved me a lot of grief. Everybody needs to find their own path.

2) Do schools today kill or cultivate entrepreneurship and innovation?

Again, I believe that an individual is either born entrepreneurial or not. I don't believe it can be learned any more than passion and sacrifice can be learned. Like these traits, entrepreneurship can only be discovered. That is my own belief of course, it may or may not be true and everybody is entitled to their opinion about that.

Speaking for myself, school has never promised individuals to make them entrepreneurs so I'm not sure why entrepreneurs keep saying that school didn't teach them enough about entrepreneurship. To me, it's like a guy going to flight school complaining that they didn't learn enough about riding a motorcycle.

3) What could be done to facilitate entrepreneurship among youth? Should organizations, social network, or new education systems be established?

These things would only help create more entrepreneurs only because it may cause an entrepreneurial individual to discover their nature, it wouldn't help teach a non-entrepreneurial person to become entrepreneurial.

 

[Anon3587x]

This has already been talked about way to much here.
Lots of girls at college, I'm in.

You get good habbits out of the ordeal.

 

[Icy]

You get good habbits out of the ordeal.

The exact opposite happened for me. My habits turned to shit. haha

On that note though, it definitely was a blast.


------

It certainly isn't necessary to go to college for an entrepreneur. It completely depends on the individual. Short answer, but that really encompasses whether it's necessary, because it's about the person in question.

 

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[CommonCents]

I believe a knowledge of managerial accounting/finance is very important to increase your chances for success, no matter where you get the knowledge. college/online classes/local votech etc... Even a good dose of business/contract law is important. Knowing how to read P&L's, balance sheets is very important.

I'm sure there are more and more entrepreneurial targeted college programs now. Very few when I went to school in late 80's. I went to Georgia Tech in the business program and felt it was a valuable education for the money (low state school tuition). They had a few entrepreneurial focused classes. Accounting/finance/organizational design/marketing were a great overall background education to prepare me with tools for most anything in business.

 

[SuccessInMind]

I think universities used to foster innovation and creativity back when only the wealthy could afford to attend them. During the 1500-1900 period, wealthy people sent their children to universities not so that they could get jobs working for someone else but rather so that they could become more enlightened and well rounded people; they would learn not only math and the sciences but also the arts as well as learn how to think critically and discuss important issues with one another.

Our founding fathers were the product of such university systems as most of them were of the upper class in America. Does anyone think that if Thomas Jefferson went to one of today's universities that he would have been as great a thinker as he was? I don't believe so; he would have been a corporate drone or a lawyer for a big law firm.

That's why I'm not surprised that there haven't really been any great contributors to human knowledge and progress since the mid-point of the 20th century. There are no towering intellectuals like Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, etc. who accomplish great things anymore. The best you can get today is some arm chair professor who spouts off about his wild theory just to get headlines but doesn't accomplish anything significant.

You make a good point. I think if people went to college with the mindset of trying to enlighten themselves instead of the mindset of just majoring in something that will get them a highly paid job then you would see more entrepreneurs/innovators. I started out my college career majoring in Accounting, not because I wanted to, but because Accountants make a lot of money. I think if I could start my college career over again, I would take more Managerial and Marketing classes, maybe even add some Philosophy and Psychology classes as well because those were the classes I was most interested in and they stimulated my way of thinking way more than my Accounting classes.

Maybe we should start telling kids going to college to just take classes they are interested in taking and to major in a field that they truly find fascinating so they can broaden their minds and get the most out of their experience.

 

[CommonCents]

Additionally, the college process tests you. You must have some discipline to study on your own, attend classes etc... The other benefit is socializing and making contacts. It's during your formative years that you grow up and learn to interact with others. College offers great future contacts for business. Look at Harvard etc...its not necessarily what you know, its who you know that can ring true.

Even if you are a genius web programmer, you need general business management skills to run a business. The same is true for medical and legal professionals. They may be good doctors and lawyers but that doesn't make them good business people to go out on their own.

 

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[ceoarob]

Dear Darkside,

this is so spot on the money to what I believe that it's crazy.

The entire time/money factor would have been, for me, 100K and 4 years. I did a cost analysis of exactly how much it would cost me if I stayed in University for 4 years and it was appox 100k. It was running me about 25k a year total, and since I had my first year pretty much done, I had 75k and 3 years left.

I remember sitting in a dining hall and spending an hour+ doing this analysis and I came to the conclusion that, "In three years from now, I could actually save the money, improve myself, and get ahead in life as opposed to starting from scratch".

I think taking the college route is actually detrimental to the odds of becoming an entrepreneur. For one thing, you waste 4 years earning a document that says you are competent enough to work for someone else.

Whenever I told my friends that I planned on leaving University and starting a business, the first objection that I received was usually, "Well, don't you need a college degree to start a business?" and "You need a degree in business to be successful".

Comments like these really showed me just how entrapped people were in the belief that "college = success".

I knew, perhaps instinctively, that I didn't *need* a college degree to be successful. Perhaps if I were going in a computer field and trying to create a start up in the tech sector, it would be nice to have some computer programming knowledge, but there is SO MUCH free knowledge that's it's crazy. I can just teach myself what I need to learn through Google University.

I would be less harsh on colleges and universities if their actual aim was to teach and facilitate creativity and progress like they used to leading up to the midpoint of the last century. But, colleges and universities today are only interested in teaching students how to be good middle and upper management employees who can then donate money back to the college once they become alumni.

This is the statement that caught closest to my heart.

Now, I love the University system because it's at least doing SOMETHING, however, when it comes to entrepreneurship, it just seems like the true support for creativity and innovation disappears. They AREN'T fostering an environment where people can think critically for themselves and truly give value to the world.

For engineers, scientists, and doctors, college is great,

but for Entrepreneurs, it falls short primarily based on the premise that college is designed to create employees (middle and upper management employees, as you said), NOT entrepreneurs.

 

[ceoarob]

No, I don't think college is needed to be successful.

1) The education system is made to make everyone work for someone else. They don't have classes on How to Fulfill People's Needs 101. Therefore, school is not needed to become an entrepreneur. Education is required however, and there's a difference (learned that from MJ's book).

YESSS. This is exactly what I had in mind.

Even though I was taking Econ, Finance, and Accounting classes, they weren't actually telling me how I'd need to use it in real life.

If there were classes like:

-Dealing with Fear 101
-How to Fulfill People's needs 101
-Networking 101
-Executing an idea 202

etc, then I'd be happy with college and this thread would not exist.

I guess that's what happens when you get a business *management* degree.

2) Personally, I haven't seen or been to a school that does breed entrepreneurship and innovation, but maybe I just haven't been privileged enough to go/see those types of schools. Again, the education systems are built to make everyone work for someone else.

I haven't either.

Even whenever I look at US/World Rankings for Colleges, business schools, and Universities, the "top entrepreneur programs" come from Babson College.

Even though it's probably a great program, I still think that it's missing the mark when it comes to entrepreneurship.

If a program were to be established to create entrepreneurs, it would have to:

1) Get away from the traditional grading scale
2) Get away from traditional college standards
3) Move towards ideas that would work "in the real world" not in theory or in a textbook or according to a professors standard.

3) In order to facilitate entrepreneurship among youth the education system has to be reformed. As someone on this forum has mentioned before, the way school operates has not really changed since the Industrial Revolution. A new educational system would have to be formed with the purpose of cultivating entrepreneurial thought.

I'm going to read up on that, but I've heard that statement before.

I agree, a new educational system would indeed have to be formed. Not one designed to churn out doctors or professionals, but one designed to cultivate entrepreneurs.

 

[ceoarob]

I think that people should look at formal education as an investment. What kind of ROI do you expect from it? My personal opinion is that unless you want to pursue a career in a specialized field where a degree is required(doctor, lawyer) then the price these days for a four year, room and board based degree is not worth it. So having said that if you want to be an entrepreneur, there is no need for any kind of formal education. For business and entrepreurism, their exists too much free knowledge out there to justify going to college.

Camski,

Definitely some valid points...

a question I have for you is this:

What happens as more and more people get their degrees and the job market becomes flooded with people who are getting their Masters/PHD's etc.?

Since the supply of "potentially good employees" increases as more people acquire specialized education, does the value of a degree go down? Does that "investment" become less valuable?

I'd love to hear your opinion about that...

------------------

For business and entrepreurism, their exists too much free knowledge out there to justify going to college.

Most definitely!

The running joke about "Google University" illustrates just how easily people can acquire knowledge and information as opposed to ten years ago.

 

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[ceoarob]

In answer to the original question, no, it's not necessary.

However, ceoarob, it sounds to me that you may have fallen into the event vs the process that MJ has written about. Most people I know in school follow the same pattern. You want the class and the education to be a series of events rather than a process of learning.

I think college is like anything else, you get out what you put in. Ceoarob, you need to ask yourself what the ultimate goal is and then figure whether a formal education fits into those goals.

I can see how that could have come across...

From an outside perspective, it definitely could be viewed that way.

I just remember the first day that I stepped on campus. My first thought was, "Yeah...I'm not going to be graduating with these people". Meaning that eventually I would leave and set out to pursue my deepest dreams and desires.

A very unique set of circumstances, people, and events came into my life and helped me realize the "Ultimate Goal" so that I could move towards what I *really* wanted to do with my life.

----------------

I think I had already made up my mind about the entire academia part of the college experience. I still gave it my all for my first 2 semesters until I reached a "breaking point" internally and I realized that, "I'm not going to be headed down the same path as everyone else, so I can stop pretending now..."

I think I'll write about that more in the future on my blog if you ever read about that, but I agree strongly about the "Ultimate Goal" - if you need college, you'll know...

 

[CoMp1eX]

Speaking for myself, school has never promised individuals to make them entrepreneurs so I'm not sure why entrepreneurs keep saying that school didn't teach them enough about entrepreneurship. To me, it's like a guy going to flight school complaining that they didn't learn enough about riding a motorcycle.

I agree, I knew going into college it was only going to raise my value as an employee. Success in entrepreneurship is all up to ME.

I'm currently finishing my last 2 years of my BA with zero debt. My parents are helping me pay for it, plus I'm getting some financial aid, so it's in my best interest to go.

My businesses aren't making enough to quit my current job, so I'm going to finish college in 'hopes' that I will make more in the future and of course I'm going to keep building my businesses in the meantime.

100% it's NOT necessary for entrepreneurs, that's been proven time after time again. Is college worth it? It's different for every person. I'd say just use your common sense. For those taking $100k+ out in loans... probably not.

 

[Anon3587x]

When someone asks me what I do I just say "I go to school full time. I'm studying computer science & entrepreneurship"

 

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[marktech101]

As a freshman college student managing a business that is rapidly closing in on $100K of sales, I have several opinions on this subject.

Firstly, it must be understood that complacency is the enemy of progress. College offers you a place to live, work, and play in an all-in-one package with people your age. If you let it, college will engulf your life (through studying, partying, etc) and leave you with no time (or, indeed, motivation) to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

It's much easier to manage a business than start one while in college. If properly executed, managing a fastlane business requires only 10-25% of one's time and/or energy, while starting one requires roughly 120%.

Business classes are for employees and are useless to an entrepreneur. Business school, however, can put you on the radar of people already in the business world and can potentially connect you with VC, other people, etc etc.

College can broaden your horizons and introduce you to things you had never thought about before, including alternative philosophies, languages / cultures, art history, world history, etc. My history since 1945 class has taught me exactly why my business has been so successful, how all you housing millionaires got that way, etc.

College can give you study abroad opportunities that can be used to your advantage, especially if you already have a basic idea of which field you want to start your business in.

I agree that for the most part, entrepreneurs are born, not made. If you are not an entrepreneur and you forgo college thinking you are, you have just damaged your life significantly, possibly irreparably. If you are an entrepreneur and you go to college, there will probably / definitely be a delay in the kind of success we all aspire to, but it should still come.

Looking at college as purely a means to increase income is one of the most slowlane things you can do. However, realizing the potential benefits in terms of a broadened life horizon, college can definitely provide a better quality of life if you do become a millionaire down the road.

Mark

 

[Anon3587x]

Everybody needs to follow their own path.

I realized I'm always best off when I'm doing what I know I need to do
as opposed to what someone else suggests.

Let's not discuss slowlane things to do right now.

 

[TOLDUSO]

College can make or break you, but it's all in what you do in your spare time that makes the difference. And, unless you are sitting on a goldmine, chances are you have to either work or go to school whether you are an entrepreneur or not. Most entrepreneurs have some sort of income to keep them alive while they work on whatever it is they are pursuing at the time.

College is not going to hurt you. If anything, you at least increase your earning potential and afford yourself more spare time and better chances of getting your ideas off the ground. It's important to note, though, that college is an indoctrination to working for someone else. That's it and that's all. On the flip note, not going to college is guaranteeing yourself the same, and likely at a lower pay rate. A college degree used to set you apart. Now, you basically have to have it. Just because you go to college doesn't mean you have to do whatever you went to college for for the rest of your life. It's just to get a leg up on pursuing your real passion. That's the way I see it.

You have to consider the law of averages in figuring whether or not you are going to get a big break. Let's face it. Chances are usually slim. If we are all going to chase and work for our dreams, there are going to be a lot of us that don't achieve it. That's just reality. I'd rather pursue my dreams and be at least comfortable rather than doing it broke-dick poor eating ramen.

 

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[MsPacMan]

1) Is school really necessary for enteprenuers of today? Why or why not?

No, and not even in the past. If you're born with wealth, Paris Hilton, you can easily used that to become even wealthier. If you're good at, better than all, and can do it well then you should do fine if you work hard at it.

2) Do schools today kill or cultivate entrepreneurship and innovation?

Depends on the person, the society, and their ambition to rule the world. I say for today, it gives false hope to people. It's not useless though, since your surrounded by like-minded people... depending on the school. Network and yadda yadda... it's not worthless. But college today is not about enlightenment, it's a trade school these days.

3) What could be done to facilitate entrepreneurship among youth? Should organizations, social network, or new education systems be established?

Now, the only lesson you could do is be the American Dream.

I like your thinking...

 

[wallstreet]

1) Is school really necessary for enteprenuers of today? Why or why not?

No, and not even in the past. If you're born with wealth, Paris Hilton, you can easily used that to become even wealthier. If you're good at, better than all, and can do it well then you should do fine if you work hard at it.

2) Do schools today kill or cultivate entrepreneurship and innovation?

Depends on the person, the society, and their ambition to rule the world. I say for today, it gives false hope to people. It's not useless though, since your surrounded by like-minded people... depending on the school. Network and yadda yadda... it's not worthless. But college today is not about enlightenment, it's a trade school these days.

3) What could be done to facilitate entrepreneurship among youth? Should organizations, social network, or new education systems be established?

Now, the only lesson you could do is be the American Dream.

I like your thinking...

The above post is the strongest argument I've seen to why you NEED to go to school. My brain hurt reading this.

 

[Darkside]

The above post is the strongest argument I've seen to why you NEED to go to school. My brain hurt reading this.

LOL! I know right? I originally thought that she was a troll for posting that thread asking us to change her mind about going into the porn industry but most trolls are clever while she clearly isn't.

Then again, basic writing skills are supposed to have been taught before the college level so I doubt that going to college will do much for her.

 

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[NHS]

The idea of being rich is so new to me guys.

I literally just threw myself in 5 months ago. Or I should say I tested the waters 5 months ago.

The idea of making $1000 a day used to sound crazy to me. Today I made $3k. One day, used my contacts, flipped 1k in product into 4k. Oh yeah and I made 700 on ebay today. May not sound like much to some but to me this is huge.



College didn't teach me anything about this. I just jumped in and took risk. Now why didn't I do this at 18? HAHA

 

[marktech101]

The idea of being rich is so new to me guys.

I literally just threw myself in 5 months ago. Or I should say I tested the waters 5 months ago.

The idea of making $1000 a day used to sound crazy to me. Today I made $3k. One day, used my contacts, flipped 1k in product into 4k. Oh yeah and I made 700 on ebay today. May not sound like much to some but to me this is huge.



College didn't teach me anything about this. I just jumped in and took risk. Now why didn't I do this at 18? HAHA

I'm jealous, haha. My best day was ~$1900, back in September. Now I'm studying for finals....

 

[wallstreet]

Nice the max I've done in one day was 3.5k however it was for a week of service. Still trying to nail 1k a day, every day, instead of once or twice a month.

 

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[ceoarob]

I know that I'll advise my children (if I ever have any) to just get the HS Education and go through 1 year of college and decide whether or not it's for them.

I know I would've inhibited my growth as a person if I didn't get that first year done.

The schooling system Prek-12th taught me how to do my math, read, and write. I'm thankful for that.

 

[Anon3587x]

We are so against college because were business orientated folks. For our particular field of study college is not necessary at all.
I wish I could force myself to pursue chemistry for the joy of discovery as opposed to money for the life of luxury and doing what I want.

We are money goblins &I'd rather be a gnome of love, but still. . . I won't change.

Money allows me to hire people specialized in chemistry to pursue my goals on a higher level. Strange, evil world.