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Thoughts on dropping out to do a startup

joel.is

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Re: Thoughts on dropping out to do a startup

#11

Post by moocow01 »

mememememememe wrote: post #3

How many startups can actually reach stable revenue? I don't mean you need to take down Facebook or Google. But there are way too many startups. Sometimes I start to think: how many customers do they get? Ten? Twenty? Thirty? How long? A year? But on the other hand, startup is great for fresh out graduates. They learn better and quicker in theory - they are forced to adapt to the change of specs and environment. It's…

I think the majority of startups teach great lessons in how not to run a business. Some of the best lessons Ive learned is watching others as well as myself inadvertently blow stuff up and realizing that should have been done a lot differently. Every once in a while the stars align but what the tech media doesn't say is that the majority of work that goes on in startups is doing stuff that is experimental but typically turns out to be a not so great or extremely bad business decision.

Re: Thoughts on dropping out to do a startup

#12

Post by jmathai »

Jonanin wrote: post #4

Hopefully this is related: can anyone give some advice or input on dropping out to work in silicon valley in general? I'm not close to done (first semester freshman), but I have an internship at a certain large SV company this summer. If you were in my position, and that company offered a job, would you take it?

The real question is, "are you someone who will start a business no matter what?".

If so, then I'd say dropping out early is something to consider. But do so knowing the risks associated with it. Any business you start will most likely fail. And many companies will require that you have a degree to get a job^. If you have a chance to move to SV then do it. There's a lot of negative aspects (group think, etc) but the positives drastically outweigh them. You'll have the opportunity to surround yourself with people who think big and take big chances...the type of people who are great at starting businesses. You won't find it anywhere else.

If not, then stay in college. A degree gets you a good amount of choice that you'd lose if you opt not to get one. But those choices are always when working for someone else. If that's something you can do (99% of the population) then the degree will go a long way.

I'm 34, now living in SV. Dropped out in my 3rd year to take a contracting gig at GM in the late 90s. If I knew better I would have came out to SV. Instead I moved back to Cincinnati and did a startup for 3 years before I was married or had kids. Now I'm on my second startup (normally spend 3 years at a "real" company between startups) but this time I have a wife who stays home and I have 2 kids. The lack of degree has not yet had a negative impact on me. But I don't know if that will continue.

^ I've not yet finished college and I never have trouble finding work between starting up. YMMV

Re: Thoughts on dropping out to do a startup

#14

Post by jorde »

One thing that almost never rises up when people talk about college is US work visas. Having a university level degree is pretty much essential in order to obtain a H1b visa to be able to work in the US. Of course there are ways around it but that itself is a good motivation to finish your studies if you're a foreigner.

I agree that school is good time to work on side projects and learn by doing. One other good way is to do a internship for a US based startup as obtaining a J1 internship visa is relatively trivial if you're in college. That was the single best thing I did in school.

Re: Thoughts on dropping out to do a startup

#15

Post by TheMakeA »

In my early 20s. Dropped out of college to get "real world experience."

In retrospect, the thought of having blocks of free time to pursue whatever I want is very appealing. For now I am stuck doing 40+ hour workweeks and trying to cram side projects in on nights and weekends.

I wish I were back in college.

Re: Thoughts on dropping out to do a startup

#16

Post by evmar »

Jonanin wrote: post #4

Hopefully this is related: can anyone give some advice or input on dropping out to work in silicon valley in general? I'm not close to done (first semester freshman), but I have an internship at a certain large SV company this summer. If you were in my position, and that company offered a job, would you take it?

My uncle told me: you're going to be working for the rest of your life -- five days a week, with minor breaks for vacations. Enjoy school while it lasts, make the most of it; there's no rush to get into work because there's no getting out.

(Yes, some people end up rich or with atypical work schedules that make the above categorization not true, and others roll the startup dice and have a great time at that too, but the vast majority of people, including many intelligent, interesting, and otherwise nontraditional people, fall into the above pattern.)

Ten years from now nobody's gonna care whether you've been in the industry for five years or eight, but some will care about your degree, and much more importantly you will care whether you took the initiative to learn something interesting (not about computers!).

Re: Thoughts on dropping out to do a startup

#17

Post by pg »

"As a result, my advice to anyone thinking of dropping out is to keep studying, and use every opportunity to build projects and startups on the side."

Yes. In fact, I'd go even further. Don't even try to build startups. That's premature optimization. Just build things that seem interesting. The average undergraduate hacker is more likely to discover good startup ideas that way than by making a conscious effort to work on projects that are supposed to be startups.

Re: Thoughts on dropping out to do a startup

#18

Post by pg »

Jonanin wrote: post #4

Hopefully this is related: can anyone give some advice or input on dropping out to work in silicon valley in general? I'm not close to done (first semester freshman), but I have an internship at a certain large SV company this summer. If you were in my position, and that company offered a job, would you take it?

No!

Re: Thoughts on dropping out to do a startup

#19

Post by randomdata »

breckenedge wrote: post #7
Jonanin wrote: post #4

Hopefully this is related: can anyone give some advice or input on dropping out to work in silicon valley in general? I'm not close to done (first semester freshman), but I have an internship at a certain large SV company this summer. If you were in my position, and that company offered a job, would you take it?

Not to discourage you, but your education will likely benefit you far longer than most SV companies will be around. The benefits of education also brought, in my life, career choices that would not have been available without it. Choice is liberating. Who knows though, the world does seem to be changing.

  > Choice is liberating.
I find it to be overwhelming. I am routinely contacted by people asking if I am looking for work, and what they are doing seems like it could be an amazing experience, but you get comfortable in your six figure job that you love and taking the risk on something new is a huge decision. Like, "should you divorce your wife to date the interesting new girl you met?" kind of huge.

I did not have the opportunity to obtain a formal post-secondary education though, so maybe that is something you learn to manage in that process.

Re: Thoughts on dropping out to do a startup

#20

Post by pg »

colinbartlett wrote: post #6

Stop thinking about "doing a startup" and start thinking about "starting a business".

That's like saying stop thinking about eating an apple and start thinking about eating fruit.

Startups are a proper subset of businesses. It's up to each individual what type he or she wants to start.

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