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Students: You Are Probably Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School

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Re: Students: You Are Probably Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School

#41

Post by jacques_chester »

pg wrote: post #33

It's a fallacy that one should avoid ambitious choices because few succeed at them. On average the odds of starting a successful startup are low, but the reason that's so is that it's an average of a few people for whom the probability of success is high (not 100%, but still high considering the risks) and a large number for whom it's practically zero. I suppose in a sense he's doing students a favor with this articl…

It is also a fallacy that one should make ambitious choices because some well-known few have succeeded.

In either case you are making a decision out of emotion (fear or hope).

edit: better noun.

Re: Students: You Are Probably Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School

#42

Post by fleitz »

tensor wrote: post #35
fleitz wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those that can do, those that can't, teach, and those that can't teach get tenure. If this guy was an econ professor at least he would know he was just talking his book. You don't need a symposium on entrepreneurship you need to sell stuff at a higher price than you bought it to paying customers. Thats it, it's a sentence not a 2 year degree program.

Those that can do, those that can't, teach, and those that can't teach get tenure. This is an extremely ignorant and insulting statement. Further, you have just asserted that the worlds best minds, and many of histories great figures, are all incapable fools. I hope you realize how this statement makes you look.

I would posit that "worlds best minds, and many of histories great figures" are revered for what they did and not what they taught, nor their positions of tenure.

Did Einstein have tenure or a teaching position when he discovered relativity? Point out to me those revered figures of history known primarily for their teaching or tenure positions. The worthlessness of the university system is exemplified by people like the Admissions Dean of MIT who was able to perform magnificently at her job sans the appropriate degree. The degree obviously being so unimportant to MIT to even bother checking that she had it for some 30 odd years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/27/us/27mit.html

The statement is insulting only to those who hold their degree / teaching position as part of their identity which is supposed to be some kind of proxy for them knowing / being able to do something.

I greatly respect the capable, the intelligent, and the driven, what I don't think is that having a teaching position / tenure is a great proxy for knowing that.

Re: Students: You Are Probably Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School

#43

Post by nostrademons »

kenjackson wrote: post #29
Jsarokin wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like to think of it as they went out and made the opportunity happen for themselves instead of waiting for the opportunity to present itself.

But they didn't drop out to find the opportunity, is his point. The uber-point is really, people who are bright enough to found $1B businesses are also bright enough to realize that you don't leave college until you have the idea moving along a good path. To put it another way, are there any $1B SW companies started by people who either didn't go to college or dropped out of college before they had started creating p…

Twitter & Apple.

Re: Students: You Are Probably Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School

#45

Post by mitko »

morganw wrote: post #36
exit wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why did steve jobs drop out?

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html "all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it."

but he continued listening lectures - he just stopped paying. Apparently he was smart enough to realize that the knowledge is worth much more than the degree.

Re: Students: You Are Probably Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School

#46

Post by jaxn »

kithal wrote: post #26
gamble wrote: post #4

One commonality between many successful dropouts like Zuckerberg and Gates is that they dropped out to do something specific, not because they were too lazy or undisciplined to finish. Had the right opportunity not come along, I suspect many celebrity dropouts would have cruised to graduation.

In fact, I'd imagine Zuckerberg would be better off both personally and professionally had he finished his undergraduate education. Moreover, I think it's interesting to think if Facebook would be different had it been founded by post-graduation Zuckerberg. Better? Worse? I bet the Facebook experience would be richer had Zuckerberg been more mature when he crafted the initial vision.

That is a pretty bold claim. It sounds ridiculous to me.

Also, how can someone consumed with an idea finish school? It is that singular purpose that drive Zuckerberg to succeed. You can't just put that on hold and finish up a degree.

Re: Students: You Are Probably Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School

#47

Post by kenjackson »

nostrademons wrote: post #43
kenjackson wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they didn't drop out to find the opportunity, is his point. The uber-point is really, people who are bright enough to found $1B businesses are also bright enough to realize that you don't leave college until you have the idea moving along a good path. To put it another way, are there any $1B SW companies started by people who either didn't go to college or dropped out of college before they had started creating p…

Twitter & Apple.

I'll give you half-credit for Apple. Jobs was out of school, but Woz was still at UCB and withdrew after they had already begun selling (but before the company was officially formed).

And I think half credit for Twitter. I don't know much about Twitter, but it appears Dorsey was still in college when they started Twitter.

But in any case two pretty good examples.

Re: Students: You Are Probably Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School

#48

Post by AJ007 »

jacques_chester wrote: post #41
pg wrote: post #33

It's a fallacy that one should avoid ambitious choices because few succeed at them. On average the odds of starting a successful startup are low, but the reason that's so is that it's an average of a few people for whom the probability of success is high (not 100%, but still high considering the risks) and a large number for whom it's practically zero. I suppose in a sense he's doing students a favor with this articl…

It is also a fallacy that one should make ambitious choices because some well-known few have succeeded. In either case you are making a decision out of emotion (fear or hope). edit: better noun.

Exclude the "well known few" from the list of successful entrepreneurs and you still have a list of people that is quite large.

I am very fortunate I did not listen to anyone who told me their opinion when I was preparing to drop out of college some 5 years ago. As difficult as it was to do back then, the choices I have to make to run my company and keep my employees employed make that one decision appear pathetically simple and obvious.

Being an entrepreneur is about making decisions for yourself because no one else can tell you what to do (and once you become successful everyone will have an their opinions of what you should do.)

If you are incapable about making challenging decisions to run your own life you are not going to be a successful entrepreneur and you should listen to what other people tell you.

Re: Students: You Are Probably Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School

#49

Post by keen »

I resent this kind of thinking.

"students may come up with great ideas and start a company, but they aren’t going to be able make it big unless they have the educational foundation."

College isn't the only way to get this educational foundation. I'd rather learn through trying to succeed in business, even if it means failure at first.

Re: Students: You Are Probably Not Mark Zuckerberg, So Stay In School

#50

Post by nostrademons »

kenjackson wrote: post #47
nostrademons wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twitter & Apple.

I'll give you half-credit for Apple. Jobs was out of school, but Woz was still at UCB and withdrew after they had already begun selling (but before the company was officially formed). And I think half credit for Twitter. I don't know much about Twitter, but it appears Dorsey was still in college when they started Twitter. But in any case two pretty good examples.

If you count Woz as "still at UCB" because he was on a leave of absence, then you have to count Gates as "still at Harvard" and Page & Brin as "still at Stanford" even today. Officially, they never actually dropped out of their universities - they just remain on perpetual leave of absence, and could go back next semester if they wanted to. Woz was at HP because he didn't have money for the next semester of Berkeley, and he thought he would always be at HP, and even after Apple started selling things and went public, he remained officially on a leave of absence, and actually did go back after his plane crash.

It's actually really hard to drop out or fail out of an elite college - I tried a couple times when I was still in undergrad. They always want you to take a leave of absence because then you don't show up in the dropout statistics that drag down their U.S. News rankings. This is why it's not really all that risky to drop out of college; you can always go back and pick up where you left off, but you'll have a much better idea of why you're there.

I was definitely thinking about Evan Williams for Twitter. He dropped out of college because he always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur, but had no idea what sort of company he would start. I don't really know about Dorsey and Biz Stone's backgrounds.

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