TODO: write a follow up to this...
"why i dropped out of college years ago to grow a startup, made a nice chunk of money, and then eventually went back to college".
Agreed. I'll never clap for anyone leaving/quitting/jumping to do a startup. However, I will clap like hell when they're still making a go of it 2 years later. Sprinting out of the gate is easy, but running the whole marathon is pretty damn hard.
I would bet against this actually occurring, at least from the standpoint of anecdotal experience.
When I was 17 I started my first company, then shortly thereafter, signed on to a dot com startup. At the time I swore to myself that I would eventually return to college.
Over a decade later, I've experienced both success and failure at the enterprise of enterprise, and at this point going back to school is near the very bottom of my list, far below "getting attacked by angry badgers".
i meant it only somewhat sarcastically, as i did exactly that myself.
in the "dotcom boom" i had moved from SF across the bay to go to school, and got recruited to a startup with an original product that took roughly 65% of US market share (and still has a majority). moved back to SF and 10 years later, after having left that company and having started a successful consulting business, nice home, car, stuff, vacations, freedom, etc... i decided i was tired of working in that industry and decided to go back to school to broaden my theoretical computer science knowledge. my friends thought i was crazy giving up the income and freedom that i had... i think it's one of the best decisions i've made, and it's given me lots of options. to me, the most important capital investment is developing what's between my ears. school is not the only way to accomplish that kind of growth, but a rigorous CS program turned out to be the best way for me.
TL;DR if you drop out of school to do something with computers, get bored of what you're doing and don't find yourself easily moving into something else, going back to school might give you more options.
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TODO: write a follow up to this... "why i dropped out of college years ago to grow a startup, made a nice chunk of money, and then eventually went back to college".
Agreed. I'll never clap for anyone leaving/quitting/jumping to do a startup. However, I will clap like hell when they're still making a go of it 2 years later. Sprinting out of the gate is easy, but running the whole marathon is pretty damn hard.
Beer on you in two years then!
I would bet against this actually occurring, at least from the standpoint of anecdotal experience.
When I was 17 I started my first company, then shortly thereafter, signed on to a dot com startup. At the time I swore to myself that I would eventually return to college.
Over a decade later, I've experienced both success and failure at the enterprise of enterprise, and at this point going back to school is near the very bottom of my list, far below "getting attacked by angry badgers".
i meant it only somewhat sarcastically, as i did exactly that myself.
in the "dotcom boom" i had moved from SF across the bay to go to school, and got recruited to a startup with an original product that took roughly 65% of US market share (and still has a majority). moved back to SF and 10 years later, after having left that company and having started a successful consulting business, nice home, car, stuff, vacations, freedom, etc... i decided i was tired of working in that industry and decided to go back to school to broaden my theoretical computer science knowledge. my friends thought i was crazy giving up the income and freedom that i had... i think it's one of the best decisions i've made, and it's given me lots of options. to me, the most important capital investment is developing what's between my ears. school is not the only way to accomplish that kind of growth, but a rigorous CS program turned out to be the best way for me.
TL;DR if you drop out of school to do something with computers, get bored of what you're doing and don't find yourself easily moving into something else, going back to school might give you more options.