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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

#51

Post by jacques_chester »

AJ007 wrote: post #48
jacques_chester wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 patheticall…

I was not aware that weighing up advice, and sometimes taking it, was an inability to make challenging decisions.

I am glad you were successful, however your experience remains only anecdotal. I have one too: my father did not go to university, worked hard at his trade, started a business, and went bankrupt.

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

#52

Post by kevin_morrill »

The list of business titans who either never attended or dropped out of college is so long it makes you wonder if graduating from college is actually a liability.

Paul Allen, Richard Branson, James Cameron, John Carmack, Andrew Carnegie, Michael Dell, Barry Diller, Walt Disney, George, Eastman, Thomas Edison, Larry Ellison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, David Geffen, J. Paul Getty, William Randolph Hearst, Steve Jobs, Ingvar Kamprad, Kirk Kerkorian, Ray Kroc, Ralph Lauren, Craig McCaw, John D. Rockefeller, Steven Spielberg, Dave Thomas, Ted Turner, Ted Waitt, Steve Wozniak, Frank Lloyd Wright, Orville and Wilbur Wright, and Mark Zuckerberg.

Some lesser known billionaires: Eike Batista, Ronald Burkle, Richard Schulze.

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

#53

Post by Alex3917 »

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…

Of the people I know who think they're smart enough to drop out of school and start a successful business, most of them are smart enough to start a business, but not necessarily the one they want to start.

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

#54

Post by dmor »

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.

the worlds best minds aren't those with tenure

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

#56

Post by dmor »

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.

Both of these claims are tossed out as random assertions with no support. Why would Zuckerberg be better off if he had finished undergrad? Why would the Facebook experience have been richer if crafter by a post-college founder?

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

#57

Post by klbarry »

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 one of the most absurd claims I have ever heard on HN. However, I do not think it should be downvoted, because it was made in good faith.

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

#58

Post by 7402 »

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.

(Woz did go back to Berkeley later, and got his undergraduate degree in 1986.)

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

#59

Post by tybris »

kevin_morrill wrote: post #52

The list of business titans who either never attended or dropped out of college is so long it makes you wonder if graduating from college is actually a liability. Paul Allen, Richard Branson, James Cameron, John Carmack, Andrew Carnegie, Michael Dell, Barry Diller, Walt Disney, George, Eastman, Thomas Edison, Larry Ellison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, David Geffen, J. Paul Getty, William Randolph Hearst, Steve Jobs, Ingv…

If you have what it takes to become a billionaire, you don't need college to become rich. As for you and me...

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

#60

Post by pg »

fleitz wrote: post #13

Wasn't Zuckerberg given this same advice, that he wasn't the guy who founded Friendster, and should just stay in school? Should a business fail can't you just go back to school? How many great business opportunities does one get in life? I'm betting it's far less than the opportunities to blow two hundred grand on a piece of paper. If professors knew what business ideas would succeed and which would fail then they'd…

If professors knew what business ideas would succeed and which would fail then they'd be investing instead of teaching.

It's not ideas that succeed or fail, but founders.

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