Is education worth it for Entrepreneurs?

[secretentourage]

Sorry I ve been absent for a little on the forum but been super busy.

I know there is often many debates about college and its worth if your true ambitions are to be an Entrepreneur and innovator, and so i decided to take a moment and break down my thoughts on how today's Entrepreneur and school system fit in together. The economic climates have changed globally and so have all the rules of Entrepreneurship.

I will have a FREE video series out on You Tube in the next 30 days discussing the new rules of Entrepreneurship which includes a segment on education.

I am curious as to hear everyone's thoughts on this topic and a healthy discussion around my point found here.

Is College Degree Worth It For Entrepreneurs?

P

 

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[campbellronald7]

Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook from his Harvard dormitory, but after the social networking website exploded in popularity, he promptly quit school and became a full-time entrepreneur.
An informal roll call of Fortune 500 CEO's that dropped out of high school or university and went on to become self-made billionaires, includes the following: Bill Gates (Microsoft), Larry Page (Google), Michael Dell (Dell), David Geffen (Geffen Records), Steve Jobs (Apple), Richard Branson (Virgin), Ralph Lauren (Ralph Lauren), Jerry Yang (Yahoo) and the aforementioned Zuckerberg.
So you must have got idea that Education sometimes may or may not play an important role to become an entrepreneur

 

[FastLearner]

Self-education definitely, maybe not formal education for those who are self-motivated.

 

[mags]

Self-education definitely, maybe not formal education for those who are self-motivated.

I would have to agree with this.

Education is important but not in the way that 'majority' of the society view it. We need to be educated to acquire certain skills. However, sometimes we fail to learn the more important lessons in life. Take for example one lesson I learned from Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad. Schools teach us a lot of things but no exact focus on handling and managing money (which is a more important skill). So, sometimes we end up successful but not really good at money.

We always need to be acquiring new and valuable skills to move forward. It doesn't have to be formal education. There are a lot of even free ones online (example here: http://biz30.timedoctor.com/8-free-video-and-audio-trainings-for-entrepreneurs/). The important thing is we are constantly learning.

 

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[crockbar]

Self-education definitely, maybe not formal education for those who are self-motivated.

I would also agree with this. Better to learn on your own and gain experience rather than sitting through a class learning how to right a business plan.

 

[Lakeview]

My thoughts are more along the line of education being the desire and ability to learn. I have received "formal education" from a university where I learned book knowledge but more importantly it was a period of maturing and understanding diverse people, culture and lifestyles. Life is an education but only when one chooses to learn from his experiences or exposures.

Is "formal education" worth it for entrepreneurs? Depends on the goal. If the goal is only the paper degree, I don't think it's right for entrepreneurs. The knowledge gained from the life experience is what I refer back to more than any single course. The problem with getting a degree is the required courses that most see little or no value in. I am learning that becoming an entrepreneur is more of a mindset and with the right mindset the actions will get the needed education and results to be successful. That my friends is exactly why I'm here.

 

[secretentourage]

^^^Spam

 

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[liquidglass]

Having my undergrad in trust/wealth management and my MBA I'll chime in and say that education is important to the extent to which you use it. Like anything you can know a lot but you don't KNOW anything until you are utilizing it. If what you want and are striving for can't be assisted by formal education then it's not for you, plain and simple.

As far as college dropouts that become wealthy, it definitely does happen, but we can list those CEOs on a paragraph. If you want a list of people who have dropped out but have not become wealthy we would need an entire book. Dropping out does not equal success. But it can be an important step if it's in the way of your success.

Steve Jobs for example did in fact drop out of school, but he evaluated classes after his drop out to assist him in his dreams. He took a calligraphy class, he didn't get college credit, but he did create the majority of fonts that we use to this day. So even though college didn't fit his fastlane pursuits it did assist him along the way. To keep true to the spirit of TMF it acted as a gas station for his fastlane. He wasn't there to make a life but it did fuel his success.

 

[Ikke]

A friend of mine barely finished highschool and currently has an ICT business with several employees.

You don't need to have a degree to succeed in business.
But it doesn't hurt to have one either.

 

[stefan]

A friend of mine barely finished highschool and currently has an ICT business with several employees.

You don't need to have a degree to succeed in business.
But it doesn't hurt to have one either.

I agree however sometimes a degree can hurt, financially

 

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[dknise]

I believe that higher education is key for an entrepreneur. I had many friends who attempted to begin their own businesses right out of college. I, on the other hand, attended a two-year MBA program. Five years after graduation, almost all of my friend's businesses have failed. Mine, however, just had the best quarter we have ever seen. I made connections and learned a great deal of skills during my time in graduate education, skills that have made my business a success.

My business is finishing up it's 2nd month in revenue after a year of development. I left college at 19, started a business and ran an existing one, self educated myself, worked at a fortune 500 making well over 6 figs, and left to found the business I currently am running which has netted more per each month than I made in an entire year working.

If only I had stuck with school I could be in debt, fighting for the job I already had, and slaving away for someone else.

Instead I just have all this free time and a bank account full of money. I screwed up guys.

 

[socaldude]

Its funny, College itself is an oxymoron. One of the hallmarks of education is INDEPENDENCE. Being able to think on your own and being able to direct your own education. If thats the case then why do i need to have someone teach me if at the end of the day i'm the only one that can teach myself? If I take a college class, at the end of the day I still have to go back home and read the textbook to teach myself. So at the end of the day you are paying THOUSANDS to teach yourself! At the end of the day you still have to put in effort to learn, nobody can actually make you learn something. College is full of these kinds of idiot contradictions.

If you are an Entrepreneur then you love INDEPENDENCE. You are self directed and self reliant. You think for yourself and if you need to get shit done you get shit done. So then why do i need college? So i can pay thousands for information that is not unique, special or rare and is available in a $15 "Start your own business" book at Barnes and Noble?

Once you understand what an Entrepreneur actually is: An independent, problem solving and critical thinking individual then the very idea college then suddenly because irrelevant because you know how to use google and you know how to use a F*cken library.

Just because you learn something in college that benefits you tremendously doesn't mean thats the only place to get it, its freely available on wikipedia.

 

[Tlcalis]

F*ck it

It's one thing doing what you hate = schooling and hating yourself everyday and want to shoot yourself and that goes for most of you

But paying 100 grand? for F*cking college?? Forget about it.... unless it is your dream to be a lawyer, your lfie purpose, dream etc.

If you had 1 billion dollars would you still attend college or university etc for getting what you want?

 

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[dknise]

If you had 1 billion dollars would you still attend college or university etc for getting what you want?

Yes. I would be so rich I could choose individual courses taught by the authors of my favorite books. Unless the teacher of the class is such an expert that they wrote the book on it and can add more value in the post-hours after reading, I don't see any point. Just buy the books and learn from the experts themselves.

 

[1PercentStreet]

"Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune." - Jim Rohn

 

[benhebert]

Education that's also experience is a good thing.

Most college education provides zero experience.

You will most likely learn more during an internship at a startup or by shadowing a high powered sales agent for a few months, than you ever would during the class room.

On the flipside if you take a super corporate job and get stuck behind a desk twiddling your thumbs for hours on end (been there), you also won't learn anything.

The best thing you can do is:

1.) Make decisions that make financial sense

ie. introductory classes at community college or other in state school

2.) Pick a job that will teach you things

ie. intern at a startup or in a sales oriented role

3.) READ READ READ READ READ

You should probably look to finish 300 - 400 books in your niche.

 

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[MooreMillions]

Education, SURELY!

College, IT DEPENDS!

This is my personal opinion: college is for a "social" education!

You are only in an environment, normally, once in your life where you have access to information, mentors, alcohol, drugs, and the opposite sex. It is a recipe for you to find out who you are, how they expect you to think the world works, and have as much fun as you possibly can without paralysis or death, seriously, because the rest of your life is going to be a GRIND!

I have friends that I made for LIFE when I attended college, however, I would not necessarily that kids attend in this day and age...unless you get an INSTITUTION or a SPONSOR to send you to an Ivy League school or a top state school. Besides these two options, it is a waste of time and money.

Picture it, kids that are fortunate enough to attend top schools, public or private, have the opportunity to network and hob knob with the children of wealthy American families, athletes children, millionaires, billionaires, and high ranking government officials. It is where they build their network and stay inside of the top 1%. If you do not position yourself as they have, will, and continue to do, get your a$$ on the internet point, click, and surf until your wrists have carpel tunnel syndrome and you will save yourself a lot of time and money.

If the Editor in Chief of Forbes magazine tells you that he told his son that he does not have to go to college if he doesn't want to, (he attended YALE by the way) and that google is all you need...that sounds about right to me!

For less than $100 a month, you can run a college education, through the internet, directly in to your home for 4 years and come out richer, wiser, and happier!

 

[poro78]

This is so weird looking from a different schooling system.
I get paid for studying, so this was easy choice for me - getting a vocational diploma (accounting and office services) after couple years of hard physical work, a minor burnout and couple months of unemployment.
The stuff is too easy for a guy like me, who has been doing various stuff here and there for years before going back to school, I'm there just to get the diploma, and seems like it won't take too much effort.
I also got a spark to find a way to start my own business and to be my own boss from our school's course - basics of entrepreneurship - and I started to haul info.
And of course I bumped into The Book, read it, opened my eyes and completely lost my passion to work for someone for the rest of my miserable life.

But for me - yeah, the education is good - I get my bills paid, my aching body has had time to heal and I already got some new info about different business entities and the taxing in Finland, bite-sized and handed on a plate.
(And yes, I hate this system - it makes free riders and gets the prices and taxes up, but it would be stupid to not exploit it.)