

Why I Dropped Out of College to Start a Startup - josh_miller
http://jm90403.com/2011/10/04/sexy-startups-why-i-dropped-out-of-princeton-university/

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DevX101
I think it's ok to drop out of college to grow a startup. But it's a terrible
idea to drop out of college to start a startup.

~~~
josh_miller
I won't argue with people who think I am crazy. That's a completely
understandable deduction. What frustrates me are people who think I did it for
the wrong reasons (i.e. $$$).

~~~
DevX101
I wasn't really trying to convince you, just making an observation.
Entrepreneurs are almost by definition hard-headed.

But if I were an investor I would seriously question your decision making
ability based on the fact that you dropped out of Princeton your senior year
with about 8 months to go.

If you want to take a somewhat data driven approach, I'd also ask how many
successful startups STARTED after dropping out. I can't think of any off the
top of my head. (Hint: Microsoft and Facebook don't fit this criterion).

~~~
josh_miller
I hear ya. I got inspired, I am working with an amazing team – a relentless
backend engineer and ridiculously talented designer – and worst comes to worst
I go back to school in a couple of years. I would always wonder "what could
have been" if I passed this opportunity up, but if I fail at least I can say I
learned a lot and gave it my best effort.

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jmjerlecki
I found the article linked in the blog to be just as interesting: why i got a
job at mcdonald's <http://www.heiferman.com/mcd/>

~~~
rick888
I actually might consider getting a job at Mcdonalds if I was working on a
startup (if I could make enough money to survive).

I could zone out and not waste any of my creative energy during the day and
work on my own stuff when I got home.

~~~
garethsprice
Slinging fries takes way more energy than it looks, and pays next to nothing.
I took a cleaning job in college with similar thoughts and it gave me a lot of
respect for people who work those jobs, and happiness that I have the option
not to.

Even in the socialist paradise of California where you'll get a whopping $8/hr
that's about $50 after tax for a full day of mind-numbing, spirit crushing
drudgery.

You won't get home and find your creative instinct has been kept safe the
entire day and it's time to unleash it for 8 hours of coding - you'll be
aching, burned and numb. It'll be time to put on the TV to watch something
that's not too taxing and crack open a few cold ones.

tl;dr - service industry is grueling work, will sap your soul

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kamechan
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".

~~~
MicahWedemeyer
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.

~~~
josh_miller
Beer on you in two years then!

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kinkora
kudos for you taking the leap but it would have been much more prudent if you
changed the "to start" to "while starting".

A lot of the people you hear that quit their education (Bill Gates, Steve
Jobs, Zuckerberg, etc) to go on and build their own start-up mostly did it
AFTER their ideas took off and started gaining traction[1]. They don't just
blindly quit their education just for the sake of starting something. Many
times it was due to a really good compelling reason such as Angel/VC funding
was approved, taking a lot of their time, huge sudden interest, exponential
customer acquisition, etc. Also, for every 1 successful person you hear that
quit their college, there are another 100 others who have failed.

Anyway, who am I to tell you what to do. Again, like I said at the start,
kudos for you for actually even doing something which puts you ahead of many
others who are still at the "thinking stage". But I think in this situation,
it is apt to say: look before you leap.

Good luck and all the best! Do prove me wrong and drop me an email when you're
all successful. ;)

 _[1] I recommend "Founders At Work"_

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scottmcleod
I'm with you-The last quarter was my last. I've had a few startups and
businesses, only now to focus my energy upon them to grow. I find that
anything that intrigues you, can be self taught and learned through enjoying
your curiosity. Schools are lame, the education system is slow, and you pay
for a piece of paper. If you notice School is in the way of your real
education, then its about time to drop that.

~~~
rprospero

      >I find that anything that intrigues you, can be self
      >taught and learned through enjoying your curiosity.
    

I sometimes wonder if that's a reversal of cause and effect. I've known many
autodidacts, myself included, who've become interested in a topic and quickly
hit a wall. The difficulty causes frustration and the autodidact loses
interest and moves on to a new, easier subject. That there are so many self-
taught learners in technology might not be an indication of our brilliance or
natural inclination, but just this subject being the low hanging fruit we all
grab onto.

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newsome48
I am actually on a leave of absence from my prestigious East Coast University
and I am debating never going back. Putting in the 9 months time to get the
degree seems logical, but I am in a place where it is the US circa 1995, i.e.
things are getting hot and I am in the ground floor. Nothing in life waits for
you and 9 months out of the game could end it for me.

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hugh3
I know it's not exactly the main point of the post, but I'm curious about the
diet.

Eggs for breakfast every morning -- just eggs? Tuna for lunch every day --
just tuna? How much of each? How do you cook the eggs? Does your body
eventually adapt to the lack of variety, or do you get up in the morning with
a stomach demanding waffles?

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gamble
I hope you didn't formally drop out. Dropouts hurt a school's USNWR ranking,
so they will almost always let students take 'temporary' leaves of absence. If
the startup fails you'll be able to go back without penalty.

~~~
josh_miller
That's exactly what I did :)

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mahcode
Hi Josh, which DogPatch Lab are you working out of? The NY one?

~~~
josh_miller
yah, you here? i'm wearing the Princeton shirt today haha

~~~
mahcode
Ha, I wish!

Currently working at an ad agency and learning how to program/ building my own
project during nights and weekends.

Was wondering if you'd want to grab coffee or drinks in the upcoming weeks -
would love to learn more about Roundtable and your experience thus far.

~~~
josh_miller
sure man. shoot me an email: josh@atroundtable.com

