Is electrical engineering a good major for entrepreneurship?

[Frushe]

Hey! Like some of you may know Im deciding my college education. I have narrowed it down to Electrical engineering and Mechanical engineering. I have also considered CS But at the school I would be attending they teach cs in a very theoretical way. Without learning any physics and being to advanced and focused on research (is this a good thing?).

I like electrical engineering because it has tons of electives and there is one orientation that has lots of programming. Plus, I would have the engineering background.

I also like Mechanical engineering. But deciding is hard when having no practical experience. I would base my choice in the one that has less barriers to entrepreneurship.

I plan to keep studying my whole life (self studying after college) on every topic which interests me. Right now Im reading lots of books on entrepreneurship. Starting on Mjs book which was great. But I am also willing to learn to code. Or everything I set my mind to.

What is your opinion?

 

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[TKDTyler]

I graduated with BSEE a couple years ago and currently work as a power engineer while working on extra stuff on the side. Theres pro's and con's to each major.

Personally, the benefits of BSEE for me were the ability to instantly prototype electronic product ideas using C/C++/arduino. Once you learn one coding language, it is very easy to start picking up others such as java or objective C if that is where your road takes you. BSEE gives you a clear technical foundation for how electronics work, but some areas will take years of real work experience and mentorship to become proficient in building your own systems (RF, power, and anything analog for that matter)

I can't speak much in terms of mechanical engineering, but as an EE workigng with manufacturers to modify and create new products, knowing AutoCAD and 3D prototyping software would be a strength. The ability to create the digital version of the image you see in your head is invaluable. You can always hire people to do this work, but there will always be some level of disconnect between the two. This is my own personal opinion of course.

 

[Mikkel]

It really depends on the person. You can make some great tools as an electrical engineer. You can also hire someone to be your electrical engineer and save the 4-6 years and $80,000. It's really a toss up to be honest. Do you want to be the inventor or the person who organizes the invention?

 

[Frushe]

It really depends on the person. You can make some great tools as an electrical engineer. You can also hire someone to be your electrical engineer and save the 4-6 years and $80,000. It's really a toss up to be honest. Do you want to be the inventor or the person who organizes the invention?

The good think about living in Argentina is that the best university is the public one. And its free. So, why wouldnt I get a useful degree for free? Still 6 years is quite a bt of time. But im planning on starting a business during that time. At least to get experience

 

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[Delmania]

Do you want to be the inventor or the person who organizes the invention?

Musk, Brin, Gates, Jobs. The great inventors were both capable of both inventing and organizing the invention. If you're desire is to create a business focused on product creation, and not importing, it's important to have experience the relevant field. There's a post here about someone who invented a product for painters. Do you know how he got his idea? By painting. In the book Mastery, Greene talks about the concept of an apprenticeship, a period where a person is learning - school is just as good as any place for that, especially if the person takes courses on marketing and systems thinking. STEM fields are definitely not a poor investment. There is a huge bias against college on these forums, however, for every person who hasn't gone to college, I can point out someone who has. I hold the opinion that a STEM degree (or related, likes the Symbolic Systems degree) are definitely worth it for people interested in those fields.

As for the original question, for product creation, both degrees are good starting points, choose the one that plays to your strengths and interests.

 

[juan917]

I had classes in electrical engineering so I know what is taught. IMO it's an outdated field. I highly advise against it. As a matter of fact I'm against traditional education. Self teaching and Particle.io is all u really need if you are interested in making hardware innovations.

 

[Growth & Learn]

Any major can be a good major for entrepreneurs. It's not the major itself but what you do with the major and the information you learn.

For example, in the traditional world there is no money in art history but I have a friend who took their art degree and earned millions using the information he learned.

 

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[juan917]

The good think about living in Argentina is that the best university is the public one. And its free. So, why wouldnt I get a useful degree for free? Still 6 years is quite a bt of time. But im planning on starting a business during that time. At least to get experience

Are you allowed to go back at any time?

 

[Frushe]

Are you allowed to go back at any time?

yes

 

[juan917]

yes

What about just not going to school and trying your hand at the real world? If you have to, go back to shelter.

 

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[Frushe]

Except that if you don't have relevant tech education, experience or network, you're unlikely to be able to raise capital, you're unlikely to be able to bring in an experienced management team, you're unlikely to know what to look for in an engineering team, you're unlikely to be able to get larger tech companies to talk to you about partnerships, etc. The tech industry is very close knit, and when it comes to doing anything substantial, you're either inside of it or outside of it.

What percentage of tech VC capital do you think goes to people who have no tech education, experience or network? I don't know for certain, but I'd be willing to bet that it's close to 0%. I do some small tech angel investing and know several people who do larger tech angel investing -- if we can't find out about you through our network of friends, colleagues and acquaintances, it's unlikely we're going to consider giving you money.

And from a purely empirical standpoint, I can't think of too many well-known engineering tech founders from the past 20 years who didn't have any engineering education, experience or network...

Thanks for your replies. They were very helpful. How did you electrical engineering degree helped you in your startup? Why do you recommend computer engineering more than electrical engineering? What about mechanical engineering?

Thanks!

 

[juan917]

Sorry, but you just lost all credibility when you said that electrical engineering is an outdated field...that's probably one of the most ridiculous and naive comments I've ever read on this forum...

You do realize that to post that (tremendously ill-conceived) opinion, you almost certainly did it using a microprocessor the size of thumbnail on a device that either has a 100+ GB hard-drive smaller than my hand or a couple gigs of solid state memory the size of a q-tip, may use an integrated FPGA, likely has a high-resolution full-color LCD display and perhaps wasn't even physically connected to a network at the time because you were using a wireless router or cell technology.

Which of those absolutely F*cking amazing engineering accomplishments (or using your term, "hardware innovations") do you think were achieved using self-learning and/or Particle.io?

Btw, in a couple years, you'll be able to post the same shit while your car is autonomously driving you around on a device that uses a battery that lasts months between charges (and/or that charges in seconds). Luckily, Elon Musk doesn't agree with you that this field is outdated.

Let's calm down for a minute and review :

microprocessor the size of thumbnail on a device that either has a 100+ GB hard-drive smaller than my hand or a couple gigs of solid state memory the size of a q-tip

Are you talking about smartphones?? Are you going to get into the smartphone hardware business? Ready to compete with Google and Apple?

Hardware is commoditized. Software is what matters. Electrical Engineering exclusively focuses on hardware. Transistors are already as small as they are going to get. It's a market that is not trending upwards.

Update : Well.. there is more to it than that, like you might learn about power plants but again - As a person with no sucessfull business experience, are you going to go ahead and START a powerplant? The answer is most likely NO.

Stick to something that will actually be of utility.

 

[jesseissorude]

I'm late to this thread but my answer is "F*ck yes!"

I'm an EE and I emphasized in digital design and rapid prototyping. I started a business designing music-related electronics and wholesaling them to music stores.

No alibaba and white-labeling Chinese products for me to resell on amazon. I get to design and make my products and wholesale them to boutique music stores.

Best decision of my life. Plus I kept my grades high and graduated with zero debt.

EE was the best decision of my life. The EE jobs are boring as hell (though fascinating. My title at one job was literally "Rocket Scientist."), but once I started my own business I've never had more fun.

I liked it so much, I went back to school for an MBA. Biggest waste of time ever.

 

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[juan917]

You have no idea what you're talking about.

Commodity hardware is a commodity. Innovation has never been -- and never will be -- commodity, especially in the hardware sector.

As for your comment about transistors being as small as they're going to get, not quite. 10nm will be commercially available in the next couple years, 7nm has already been proof-of-concepted, and I've heard that Intel believes they have a design concept for an FET at 5nm. And anyone in the business will tell you, Moore's Law is less important than cost-per-transistor, which is likely to plummet over the next ten years as the industry starts focusing less on transistor size and more on density and improved fabrication techniques.




Spend the next 24 hours not using any electronic hardware and then tell us your thoughts on its utility...

You bring up good points but I truly don't believe a college degree in EE is a good vehicle. You only have one try at your first degree and many end up hating what they liked because it turned into a job (happens often). In regards to innovation - Is the OP part of that 1% who is capable of making it happen? If he is, then I would argue to not even pursue a degree and to start a business instead. With Argentina as an emerging market just sticking to the fundamentals of business should make anyone a success. Hence my earlier recommendation of foregoing college and starting a business instead (don't take on debt to do it tho)

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[Frushe]

I recommend Computer Engineering because the future (and recent past) of technology is embedded devices -- those devices where hardware and software work together to make useful things. Everything from cell phones to tablets computers to video games. And things like automobile control systems, camera/surveillance technology and medical devices. And thousands of other devices you use in your everyday life and typically don't even realize it.

Look at the biggest companies in the world, and these are the technologies they are focused on. Sometimes it's obvious -- Apple, Tesla, Microsoft. And sometimes it's not so obvious -- for example, Google is only where it is today because it has some of the best hardware guys in the world who figured out how strategically design and connect small-form-factor edge servers around the world. And then the thousands of startups who are designing and building the next generation of life-altering devices (some good and some bad) like Virtual Reality, implantable medical devices and higher-speed transportation.

Computer engineering provides the best combination of hardware and software education, and more importantly, the intersection of the two.

As for how my degree helped me... I got an electrical engineering degree, but luckily I also took a lot of CompSci classes. I fell into the TV technology space, and was able to use my hardware/software skills to get on the engineering team that built the very first DirecTV set-top box. From there, I worked on the very first DVR technologies with AOL and Tivo, and parlayed that to a management position at Microsoft working on early streaming video technologies and devices. I eventually saw an opportunity to join a startup that -- based on my experience -- I was fairly certain would be acquired. A year later that company was purchased for about $1B. I had a small equity stake (I joined very late but in a senior-management position), and even a small percentage of $1B was enough to let me start focusing on my entrepreneurial ideas. I spent the first 6 years after that focused on starting a family and some real estate investing, and in just the past 18 months I launched my own tech product company.

So, what I recommend above isn't just theory. It worked for me, and I have hundreds of friends, acquaintances, colleagues and former employees who have traveled the same path. Many have taken their money and ventured out on their own (my best friend sold his first startup for 8-figures last year). Some have no desire to be entrepreneurs, so they just keep repeating the cycle of working for startups and collecting equity. It's not a sure-fire way to make a lot of money, but from what I've seen, it's the highest probability with the least downside risk (assuming you enjoy the field of work and are reasonably good at it).

Damn man! Awesome answer. You really helped me. Congratulations on your achievements

 

[Frushe]

You bring up good points but I truly don't believe a college degree in EE is a good vehicle. You only have one try at your first degree and many end up hating what they liked because it turned into a job (happens often). In regards to innovation - Is the OP part of that 1% who is capable of making it happen? If he is, then I would argue to not even pursue a degree and to start a business instead. With Argentina as an emerging market just sticking to the fundamentals of business should make anyone a success. Hence my earlier recommendation of foregoing college and starting a business instead (don't take on debt to do it tho)

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Thats true. Argentina has lots of opportunities. Basically because some things you guys have in the us are not even here. For example "mercadolibre" imitated amazon. And the ceo has a net worth of 400 million

 

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[Ninjakid]

Dude, entrepreneurship is not a good degree for entrepreneurship. No degree is a good degree for entrepreneurship. Post-secondary is not for entrepreneurship. PERIOD.

Even if I could think of a degree that would be most suited for aspiring entrepreneurs, engineering is probably the least related to entrepreneurship.

I have also considered CS But at the school I would be attending they teach cs in a very theoretical way. Without learning any physics and being to advanced and focused on research (is this a good thing?).?

CS is actually a very theoretical field, maybe you're confusing it with computer engineering?

 

[masaldana2]

I'm late to this thread but my answer is "F*ck yes!"

I'm an EE and I emphasized in digital design and rapid prototyping. I started a business designing music-related electronics and wholesaling them to music stores.

No alibaba and white-labeling Chinese products for me to resell on amazon. I get to design and make my products and wholesale them to boutique music stores.

Best decision of my life. Plus I kept my grades high and graduated with zero debt.

EE was the best decision of my life. The EE jobs are boring as hell (though fascinating. My title at one job was literally "Rocket Scientist."), but once I started my own business I've never had more fun.

I liked it so much, I went back to school for an MBA. Biggest waste of time ever.

heh I'm EE too and you're right about everything and I'm building music apps for the ipad.
EE gave me great fundamentals to understand audio signal processing

 

[RHL]

The only bad major for treps is the one that devours all your capital and doesn't provide much leverage to pay it back. If you plan to use it, EE will create a huge barrier to entry that will shut out the vast majority of the potential competition if you create a very sophisticated tech product. But you need to use it. If you major in EE and then your biz revolves around T-Shirts, you could have saved yourself a lot of time and money.

A degree is like a tool. When I buy tools, here's how it doesn't work:

"Oh, let me spend 5-6 figures on every tool the store is willing to sell me, and see what I need someday."

How it actually works:

"Oh, right now I need tools X, Y, and Z for Job 3. I'll buy them.

College should be the same way. If you have a great idea to revolutionize GPS receivers for drones and self-driving cars or to make a better phone battery, you want the engineering degree. If it's just something you're doing because it sounds like it makes sense and you don't really know where you're going or what you want, don't do it.

 

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[wilddog]

Mechanical Engineer here, slowlaning in Aerospace.
I would venture to say that Engineering is arguably the BEST major for entrepreneurs.

Why?

Because Entrepreneurship is about solving problems.
Any type of Engineering is entirely about solving problems.
Often I find myself unable to relate with FLF posts about "how do I solve problems" because it's what I do, day-in, day-out.
On top of that, Engineering is typically one of the most difficult majors so you'll invariably develop a strong work ethic as well.

On a side note, I know a couple of Electrical Engineers. While most EE students think they'll end up working in world-renowned tech, often they find themselves drawing out wiring diagrams for a living.

 

[EE7]

The most useful thing I learned in EE was how to manage large teams with highly specific skill sets. I became an expert at placing individuals to certain tasks so that they could be completed in the best way possible. My team became my tool box. I learned to leverage the skills and expertise of others to my advantage. I guess this could be learned in other degree fields, but it was very much a part of my BSEE. Would I go through with the university path if I could do it over? Probably.

 

[LateStarter]

Geez...I hate to get caught up in this thread and debate the 'worthiness' of an engineering degree, so I won't.

What I will tell you is that there are pros and cons to everything and engineering is no exception. I don't think you'll find many engineers that would change the course they've taken but that could be said of most fields I suppose. This is my personal perspective. I'm certainly willing to discuss my experiences with anyone, but I will not debate it.

About me:

• I have a BASc (Bach of Applied Science) in EE and did 3/4 of a BASc ME program as well.
• I've always steered away from being a 'code monkey' as they were known in school.
• I've worked in Automotive, Aerospace, CPG, Consulting, and Media.
• I've always tended to increase my breadth of knowledge then dive deep into particular areas that required it.
• From this, I feel like I am a 'jack of all trades' and fortunate to be that way.
• I am not a hardcore engineer and don't feel that I have ever directly used the engineering education that I received.
• I've always worked in more of a system design/integration capacity.

My Pros for engineering:

• Provided me with a solid fundamental understanding of how things work. Period.
  • Electrical, mechanical, chemical, programming, stats, etc you really do get a basis for it all.
  • This gives you the cofidence to become self-taught in almost any field or project.
• Provided me with the ability to apply an analytical process to testing and resolving problems
• As stupid as it may sound, it's helped me to learn 'how to learn'.
  • Part of my current role is dealing with innovation relating to media consumption and measurement. It sounds simple on the surface, but it's really quite complex. It's a hybrid role that bridges technology, behavioral sciences, and statistical research. I understand how deep I need to go with things, how to test and validate (or invalidate) conceptual understandings, and how to technically obtain that data and deep knowledge when faced with ambiguity.

My Cons for engineering:

• Working in sciences has killed my creativity.
  • I've allowed that side of my brain to shrivel and die by not balancing it with personal creative pursuits.
• I don't feel that I've ever used my degree to the extent that I could/should have.
  • Is it worth getting one for the roles that I've held?
• I feel that engineering (and most degrees) is becoming a commodity.
  • So do you rally need to learn it? Or is it better to pursue other opportunities and hire the skills?
• Pro & Con - You think differently.
  • It's widely known that engineers are viewed as being 'weird' because we think very differently than most people.
  • We become deliberate and analytical in every aspect of our lives. It really is a mixed blessing.
• P.Eng Designations program sucks (in Canada).
  • You have to have X years working under a professional engineer, document experiences and undergo a legal and ethics exam. For me, the challenge was finding professionals to work under that were willing to support my P.Eng plan.
  • I never got one...never needed it either.
• Lastly...and more importantly for young would-be engineering students...there aren't a lot of women in engineering programs.
  • Your core classes will always be a sausage-fest. If you're a gay man ("Not that there's anything wrong with that"- Seinfeld) it's a blessing. As a straight man, it ...lacked the diversity that I would have appreciated. Choose your electives wisely. And be conscience of the fact that 'engineers are different' when you socialize with the Arts students.

 

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[Rudynate]

I haven't kept track recently, but it used to be, in Silicon Valley, that there were more opportunities in software for EE's, with a comp sci emphasis than for those with comp sci degrees. The dynamic may have changed, with so many people entering the job market with credentials from coding bootcamps and such.

 

[ilrein]

@JScott such valuable posts. I find myself taking a similar approach, except I'm in software instead of EE. I like your perspective on building experience and a network, instead of "cold' starting a business. Make 6 figures in the process, learn and expand your resources, then jump into fully focused entrepreneurship when you have secured a base of operations. You just gave me more confidence to keep doing what I'm doing.

 

[Delmania]

I always enjoy the debate over college on these forums. It reminds of the people within software engineering who make the same claim. The only answer that is correct is "it depends on the person". If you're trying to build a business based on either product or service creation, it helps immensely to have relevant experience in that field. (You don't have to if you have enough capital in order to hire people who do, but that is not the case here.) College can be used to gain both the practical and theoretical experience for a field. As @RHL said, college should be approached as a tool.

Considering this young man is [blessed/lucky] enough to live in a country that offers free college education, I believe it is in his best interests to use that opportunity, combined with entrepreneurial endeavors. It's like having a job. It's a lot easier to experiment and launch when your expenses are not a factor.

 

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[LateStarter]

Just be careful that you don't get locked in the 'golden handcuffs' if you decide to get a day job instead of doing your own thing right away. It's very easy to get complacent and caught up in 'life' when you're in that situation.

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[Betuterien]

Honestly, I don't know much about either fields, but I really admire the spirit in wanting to never stop learning, one of the key ingredients in any successful individual.

 

[juan917]

All that said, as I pointed out above, a lot of the industry is moving towards embedded technologies, so having a good understanding of things like operating systems, device drivers, real-time programming/constraints, code optimization techniques, etc. can mean the difference between a good tech job and not. And you're most likely to learn those types of skills in a Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering program.

Gonna have to disagree here. Unless your looking to work in the whole VR and car automation movement, the embedded technology knowledge isn't necessary as it's abstracted out 100% of the time


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[juan917]

It's abstracted out 100% of the time? Again, you have no idea what you're talking about...

I'm sitting here on my couch looking around my house and here are just a few of the products that I'm looking at that require embedded development:

- The iPad I'm typing this on
- My cell phone
- Microwave oven
- Alarm system
- Coffee maker
- Electric fireplace
- Home automation system
- Roku box
- DirecTV box
- Television set

If I spent another 10 seconds looking around, I'm sure I could find a dozen more things.

Pretty much any consumer device in existence these days requires embedded development. Device drivers don't magically create themselves and most devices don't run Windows 10 as their operating system.

Not to mention that I know hundreds of embedded engineers workings for hundreds of tech companies all around the world. If what you said was true, they'd all be out of jobs.

Do you think those are fast lane businesses? What are the chances of coming up with a a better microwave or alarm system and then pushing it out to the market.

All is saying is that if your going to focus on technology, why not just focus on something that can scale fast and has low starting cost.

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[juan917]

I'm confused. I just went and read some of your other posts, and it appears that you are just starting out and have never started a successful business.

Given that, where are you getting the ideas that you're throwing out about the "right" way to start businesses? Are you repeating things that you've heard others say? Are you just regurgitating stuff you've read in this site?

My suggestion is to go out and start a successful business and THEN you can come back and tell me why your way is the only right way.

To quote a very smart person, it's hard to learn anything when you think you already know everything.

Let me ask you this - what's your net worth? (not trying to compare I'm sure yours is higher than mine but I really would like to know) If it's high then I'm OK with just saying I'm wrong