Why I Don't Ditch College: An Entrepreneur's Opinion

By Tyler Mahoney

There is an old argument for avoiding higher education: "Bill Gates dropped out of college and he's one of the richest men in the world." Isn't that convincing? Along the same lines, many students and parents have noted that Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of college to run Facebook, and have marveled at how successful he is now.

In the past week a battery of arguments against attending college have sprouted across the Internet. Columnist James Altucher at Daily Finance wrote "Seven Reasons Not to Send Your Kids to College" and fellow Huffington Post blogger Danny Wong wrote a personal treatise called "Why Ditch College?" Wong says grand life experiences await those who beat their own paths. Altucher says college is a scam and not much more, and one's time would be better spent working, volunteering, or reading.

With the soaring price of college education, these arguments make some sense. Yet Altucher throws the baby out with the bath water when he says, "the entire college degree industry is a scam, a self-perpetuating Ponzi scheme that needs to stop right now." I offer a defense of American post-secondary education. Simply running the tuition numbers and telling people to be entrepreneurs in no way makes up for the personal development and career advantages you can gain by attending college.

College education, especially at private institutions, is prohibitively expensive. But an education should not be judged solely on return on investment: personal growth and achievement cannot be measured on an investment principle. I'm highly critical of our education system: it's outdated and often forgets to put students first. But a quick survey of the facts makes it clear that college isn't as bad a choice as Altucher and, to a lesser extent, Wong would have you believe.

James Altucher and Danny Wong have both presented scenarios where becoming an entrepreneur makes more sense, but they fail to demonstrate how plausible it is for someone straight out of high school to get a business off the ground. Mark Zuckerbergs and Bill Gateses aren't born every day. Boot strapping a start-up is time consuming and emotionally draining. You have to be prepared for high stress and very little income for a year, maybe two. All the while you have to keep a positive attitude, network, and push aside all the snake oil salesmen who promise you the world. It's difficult work and even the best and brightest fail. You might learn a lot about the limits of how long a person can go without sleep, but you'll miss the chance to delve into truth, meaning, and character.

In my college experience at Seattle University and my continuing studies at Duke University, I've been able to explore who I am and where I want to go in life. I hung out for four years digging into the minds of St. Augustine, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Albert Camus. Most importantly, while attending a Jesuit university, I got to learn from the master of discernment and self-actualization himself, Ignatius of Loyola.

Was it expensive? Yes. Could I get that same experience on my own? Probably not. Running the tuition costs should only be one metric of the many that inform your decisions about college. Yes you'll find debt, but you also get a chance to find out who you are, network with future players in countless industries, and master the all-important art of critical thinking (assuming, that is, you don't spend four years with a blood alcohol level high enough to constantly keep you from the wheel of a car).

The doors that have opened up in my own start-up, Churchrater, continue to swing wide because of my education. I walk, talk, and write about religion and I learned those skills while getting my B.A. in Theology at Seattle University and my M.Div at Duke. That's how I landed my company in the pages of USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, and ReadWriteWeb.
I got internships because I went to SU and now people return my emails because I go to Duke University. You can be an entrepreneur without college, but be prepared for an uphill battle on the highest difficulty setting. If you want people to take you seriously, silly letters like J.D., B.A., M.S. or Ph.D at the end of your name help. But what helps even more is if you know who you are and where you want to go in life. If you treat college like a tool to enter the middle class that's fine, but you can also treat it like an incubator to make real waves in this world. Observe, learn, and gather as many skills as you can. Student debt won't be a problem after your first venture capital round goes through.

Those of us who do go to college could bypass our education and start working straight away. For instance, I could follow in the footsteps of my favorite religious figure and become a carpenter. It pays well, and though the work is hard I know I could one day establish myself as a business owner. But I don't want to be a carpenter: I've found a field that challenges, enriches and fulfills me, that helps others, and that allows me to build the world I want to live in without ever having to lift a hammer. College makes this possible for many young adults who don't measure their success in dollars and cents but in the kind of careers they hold. Social workers, teachers, and journalists rightly use college as a springboard to the jobs they want, not the jobs that pay the best.

Mr. Wong is taking time off from school to focus on his start-up, Blank Label. As a full time graduate student with my own start-up, I fully understand the time demands it takes to do both. Power to you, Mr. Wong, I respect your choice to define yourself and grow along with your company. Yet Mr. Altucher's advocacy to not attend college is a shortsighted attempt to explain the real cost of college. If he had some creativity he'd tell parents to send their kids to state school and use the money they save to recruit a few business majors to run their child's start-up. For a generation of team players, colleges are the new incubator for entrepreneurial advancement and personal growth.

Article Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tyler-mahoney/why-i-dont-ditch-college_b_676588.html

Entrepreneurs – You Would Possibly Need To Drop Out Of College

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Entrepreneurs – You Would Possibly Need To Drop Out Of College
by andreas on August 25, 2010

Young entrepreneurs and enterprise homeowners are often instances faced with the selection of which road to take. On one hand, there may be the more conservative route of staying in school and getting a degree. However, many have thriving companies which are making extra money than their diploma will ever get for them. Is college merely a hindrance? Or is it a invaluable useful resource that should be continued in any respect costs. Many school enterprise homeowners do not even understand they’ve the choice of dropping out. Figuring out this selection is there could be important to the success of their future business. In case you are in faculty and are an entrepreneur or enterprise owner you have to ask your self this question: ought to I drop out of college?

The reply to this question usually is available in many varieties from many different people. I used to be recently at an entrepreneurial conference and had the opportunity to discuss this matter with many wealthy entrepreneurs. The solutions I was getting from them have been vastly different from those that my household had given me. On the one side I used to be being advised that college is just useful if you are getting something out of it, and that if I used to be serious my companies ought to take precedence over schooling. From the household aspect I used to be being instructed to stay at school it doesn’t matter what, put education on the forefront – there will always be time for business and it will be good to have a safe backup. Each of those answers have their deserves, but which one is true?. It grew to become clear to me that it was my choice- not the other rich entrepreneurs, and not your family.

Why are you in school?This question is the fundamental aspect in the determination to drop out of college. Entrepreneurs must determine the reality of why they are in faculty before making a call to drop out. Some business house owners are in school as a result of their mother and father told them to go there, or as a result of they did not notice they’d the choice. Different younger entrepreneurs are in college because they discover the data invaluable and need to proceed learning whereas they increase their business. Much more still had childhood dreams of sooner or later being an engineer or architect and want to follow via with their early ideals. You need to answer this question truthfully and truthfully if you’re going to make a selection about running your online business full time or staying in college.

Why Do You Need to Drop Out?It is very vital to know exactly why you want to drop out. Many business homeowners and entrepreneurs have vastly completely different causes for dropping out of school and it’s key that you just understand yours. I’ve typically fielded this question in conversation, and many occasions a young entrepreneur will want to drop out of college on pure speculation. This is by no means a good idea and not using a solid business plan. I recommend having a solid business plan and a few backups within the least, as well as some plans for continued studying of enterprise skills. Dropping out is a risky decision – entrepreneurs will understand and easily settle for this fact. Understanding and accepting risk is part of being an entrepreneur and starting new businesses. I’ve also talked with many entrepreneurs who already have million dollar plus revenue, and are fascinated by dropping out in an effort to focus extra on their business. This occasion presents a wholly new set of questions. Whatever your reasoning just be sure you perceive and research your position.


Right here is the Secret to Making the DeterminationIt all comes right down to balancing the 2 sides of the argument. If you’ve found out both your causes for being in school and your reasons for dropping out and starting a enterprise, then you’ll be able to easily make a decision. The trick is to look at a list of each side: your reasons for being in college and your reasons for going out and becoming an entrepreneur. If both aspect has reasons that are not your individual, or that have doubt in them, then you will probably choose the other side. Right here is an instance situation, have a look at the two lists and decide what the coed should do.
Pupil A – Reasons to Keep in College:– My mother and father are paying for it, and they’d flip if I left– Everyone I know is in faculty, it could be bizarre to leave.– A level might give me some safety later on.

Student A – Reasons to Drop Out and Pursue Enterprise– I have a stable business plan and have been working on it for months– My earnings is almost half of my dad and mom already– Having more time to work on enterprise would let me increase sooner+

I feel it is fairly clear in this setup that we have an entrepreneur at heart. There may be doubt within the reasoning behind school, and he also doubts that he will even need the security of a degree. The second checklist is way more profound and certain. This pupil knows he shall be profitable as an entrepreneur and he only needs to construct his business more. There’s certainty and understanding in his tone. With this situation it appears very possible that the coed could be much better off dropping out of faculty and pursuing his business goals.
The case is nearly never as lower and dry because the situation above, most younger businessmen have way more sophisticated setups. Even with the problems, the top result’s all the time the same. Comply with the path that you are certain of in your heart. If you are an entrepreneur in the correct place then you will know exactly why you want to drop out and that it will likely be higher for you. Or, you’ll know that staying in school will train you more about business and allow you to grow sooner out of college. I will leave you with one final thing.
Take heed to your individual thoughts, and pick the trail that you already know is best for you.

Do you have diligence?

“If you had to encourage a college entrepreneur with one word what would it be and why?”

Diligence.

“When I started my business in college I had another student look at me and say, "no one will use your service." $10,000 later I realized diligence was the key because there is always someone that will try to kill your dream. Just do it! Launch the dream and stick to it no matter what!”

Casey Graham/ReThink Money https://webmailcluster.perfora.net/xml/deref?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rethinkmoney.org%2F

Do You Have Vision?

“If you had to encourage a college entrepreneur with one word what would it be and why?”

Vision.

“It's important to work with a certain point of view, and towards a certain vision of success. I've worked towards being a recognized DJ ever since university, and I knew what it would take from the beginning - from attitude to attire to the amount of hours I'd need to put in performing and networking. If you can't imagine where you want to go, and what you'll need to get there, it will make the journey twice as hard."

Montreal DJ Vivie-Ann http://www.addictivedjdesigns.com/dj/blog/

Move Forward Like a Grasshopper

“If you had to encourage a college entrepreneur with one word what would it be and why?”

Several experts responded and were more then willing to give million dollar advice to uplift the student body. One of the highlights of receiving an abundance of influential insight was when I was contacted by Grasshopper. The founders Siamak Taghaddos and David Hauser were so inspired by the topic that they set up a conference call to give their ideas over the phone. Siamak and David know what it’s like firsthand to start a business in college to go on to make millions.

Siamak’s word was execute because so many people have a vision but don’t come through with a plan. Especially in college where they think of great ideas but put them on the backburner. David’s word is Now as he feels that there are great opportunities with amazing resources and professors available. Visit their dream by going to http://www.Grasshopper.com