A Degree Is Not a Business Plan
Education can help, but it does not replace clear work, useful ideas, good partners, and the willingness to build.
One of the most popular articles I’ve written is High School Dropouts Are More Successful, a piece about people who built meaningful success without following the traditional academic path. In my conclusion I said:
More education doesn’t mean you’ll be more successful. It’s all about your drive. Your passion in life and sticking to it. Not necessarily playing it safe. I’ve meet many people that have played it safe, with a good job and such and then retire broke. Don’t play it safe. Go for it like these people have.
Years ago, Chamath Palihapitiya gave a wake-up call to a room full of elite entrepreneurs at Harvard.
His message was sobering: a prestigious degree can open doors, but it does not automatically make a business worth funding.
“It’s really unfair to you guys, but I think you’re discriminated against now,” Chamath Palihapitiya, the founder of the venture capital fund Social+Capital Partnership, said at a conference organized by the business school’s venture capital and private equity club.
Referring to his colleagues in the venture capital industry, he added, “I would bet a large amount of money that the overwhelming majority of us would not look favorably on a company started by one of you.” via A Harvard Degree Is a Liability - NYTimes.com.
You don’t have to be an elite tech founder or investor to build something useful. You need a clear idea, a real market, and the ability to explain why it matters.
If marketing is not your strength, partner with someone who understands it. Almost everything I’ve done in business has involved partnership in some form. The structure matters, but good partnerships let people bring different strengths to the same table.
As the founder of a company or idea, you cannot do everything. You need to do enough of the right things to get started, learn from the market, and keep moving.