venturcelerator
Entrepreneur Myth #7: Education is critical to being a successful entrepreneur
My father used to always tell me, “Son, without education, you’re nothing.” I can’t tell you how many times he emphasized education as the key to having a successful life. Do you have to have education to be a successful entrepreneur? According to my father, you have to be college educated if you’re gonna make a great entrepreneur. Personally, I think it is complete bullshit.
Please do not get me wrong. Education is important but it is not going to determine whether you’re successful or not in your entrepreneurial venture. Your level of education, to a certain extent, depends on the sector of your venture. If you’re involved in biotech, you better have a fucking degree. In fact, you better have more than one. If you’re in high-tech, being a dropout has its advantages.
Hmm, let’s see. Bill Gates, dropout. Steve Jobs, dropout. Larry Ellison, drop out. Jerry Yang, drop out.
These four people created multi-billion dollar high tech companies without having a college degree. Now, the journey of starting a venture could be difficult if you don’t have a degree. But, I can assure you, from a venture capital standpoint that if your venture has traction, the VC isn’t going to give a fuck whether you have a degree or not. You think I’m wrong? You think you need a college education to be a great entrepreneur?
Marc Zuckerman, started Facebook. He’s a college dropout. Facebook took off and he managed to raise substantial amounts of money from top-tier venture capital firms. You think those VC’s asked to see his college diploma? They could give a shit.
Personally, I’ve funded a PhD entrepreneur and I’ve also funded a high school dropout (which I found out later). Based on my personal experiences as an investor, the high school dropout was as good or even better entrepreneur than the PhD entrepreneur. Yes, they were involved in different sectors but the ‘entrepreneurial capability’ between the two was no different. Both entrepreneurs were highly educated when it came to their sector and market applications. In fact, I thought the high school dropout was a more resourceful entrepreneur.
Newbie entrepreneurs get confused when it comes to education. I’ve had entrepreneurs with degrees from MIT and Harvard pitch me for money only for me to turn them down for various reasons. Your college degree is good to have but it doesn’t guarantee you getting funded or being a capable entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship is about creativity. All great entrepreneurs are creative – regardless of the sector. In my opinion, formal education doesn’t place enough emphasis on creativity. Learning to read, write and compute is critical to life -- schools are good at teaching these elements. But schools are not good at teaching creativity. In addition, schools don’t place enough emphasis on teaching entrepreneurship.
They should start teaching entrepreneurship in middle school. Entrepreneurship classes should be mandatory in junior high and high school just like biology or chemistry. Last time I checked, I’ve never used much chemistry in my life, but entrepreneurship, you can use for the rest of your life.
Even though I’m a college dropout, I am self-taught. The amount of books I’ve read throughout the years is enough to get me more than one MBA. But I’ve always tried to apply what I’ve learned to practice and reality. I have a list of over 50 of my favorite books to share with you here in the eLibrary on Entrepreneurdex, but one book I recommend for any entrepreneur is “The Six Thinking Hats” by Edward de Bono. It is mandatory reading for any entrepreneur.
Entrepreneur Myth #8: I become an entrepreneur to be my “own boss”
SUBSCRIBE to the PODCAST: Entrepreneur Myths on iTunes
Please do not get me wrong. Education is important but it is not going to determine whether you’re successful or not in your entrepreneurial venture. Your level of education, to a certain extent, depends on the sector of your venture. If you’re involved in biotech, you better have a fucking degree. In fact, you better have more than one. If you’re in high-tech, being a dropout has its advantages.
Hmm, let’s see. Bill Gates, dropout. Steve Jobs, dropout. Larry Ellison, drop out. Jerry Yang, drop out.
These four people created multi-billion dollar high tech companies without having a college degree. Now, the journey of starting a venture could be difficult if you don’t have a degree. But, I can assure you, from a venture capital standpoint that if your venture has traction, the VC isn’t going to give a fuck whether you have a degree or not. You think I’m wrong? You think you need a college education to be a great entrepreneur?
Marc Zuckerman, started Facebook. He’s a college dropout. Facebook took off and he managed to raise substantial amounts of money from top-tier venture capital firms. You think those VC’s asked to see his college diploma? They could give a shit.
Personally, I’ve funded a PhD entrepreneur and I’ve also funded a high school dropout (which I found out later). Based on my personal experiences as an investor, the high school dropout was as good or even better entrepreneur than the PhD entrepreneur. Yes, they were involved in different sectors but the ‘entrepreneurial capability’ between the two was no different. Both entrepreneurs were highly educated when it came to their sector and market applications. In fact, I thought the high school dropout was a more resourceful entrepreneur.
Newbie entrepreneurs get confused when it comes to education. I’ve had entrepreneurs with degrees from MIT and Harvard pitch me for money only for me to turn them down for various reasons. Your college degree is good to have but it doesn’t guarantee you getting funded or being a capable entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship is about creativity. All great entrepreneurs are creative – regardless of the sector. In my opinion, formal education doesn’t place enough emphasis on creativity. Learning to read, write and compute is critical to life -- schools are good at teaching these elements. But schools are not good at teaching creativity. In addition, schools don’t place enough emphasis on teaching entrepreneurship.
They should start teaching entrepreneurship in middle school. Entrepreneurship classes should be mandatory in junior high and high school just like biology or chemistry. Last time I checked, I’ve never used much chemistry in my life, but entrepreneurship, you can use for the rest of your life.
Even though I’m a college dropout, I am self-taught. The amount of books I’ve read throughout the years is enough to get me more than one MBA. But I’ve always tried to apply what I’ve learned to practice and reality. I have a list of over 50 of my favorite books to share with you here in the eLibrary on Entrepreneurdex, but one book I recommend for any entrepreneur is “The Six Thinking Hats” by Edward de Bono. It is mandatory reading for any entrepreneur.
Entrepreneur Myth #8: I become an entrepreneur to be my “own boss”
SUBSCRIBE to the PODCAST: Entrepreneur Myths on iTunes
Views: 0
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by rwaggs on -
I agree that formal education is not a requirement to be a successful entrepreneur, but education IS important. You included that you are self-taught, and I think that's key - NEVER STOP LEARNING. This should be the mantra of every entrepreneur. Whether learning what your customers want so you make your product better, studying the industry so you can be ahead of the next curve, or learning more about how to make your business make more money - how to pitch your idea, how to speak in public, how to make good hiring decisions, etc. There's lots of learning to be done to be successful, and it's that self-drive, not the letters after your name, that make the difference.
© 2012 Created by entrepreneurdex team.
