

To Start a Company or Stay 100% Focused on School? - adammichaelc
http://bizglue.wordpress.com/2008/10/05/to-start-a-company-or-stay-focused-on-school/

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siong1987
100% focusing on your school?

You can always choose to focus 80% on school while 20% on your startup. When
the opportunity really comes, focus 80% on your startup and 20% on your
school. And, if the opportunity seems so attractive to you, DROP OUT.

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hugh
I'm a little confused. Why is somebody who can't decide whether to start a
company or not, or indeed what kind of company to start, writing a blog
containing "tips for entrepreneurs"?

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adammichaelc
I've started companies in the past, but can't decide what my next company will
be, or when... so I don't think that disqualifies me to give advice on what
I've learned.

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hugh
Oh, fair enough, that makes sense.

I got the impression you were a first-time (non)-entrepreneur. My apologies.

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adammichaelc
Right on.

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orib
Stay in school. It's a pain to catch up on your studies, you have to wait for
the start/end of the semester, and a degree is always nice to have, especially
if you've already invested significant amounts of time into it.

On the other hand, starting a comany is something you can do at almost any
time, including after you graduate. If you don't have a burning passion for a
specific idea, don't drop out of school for it now.

It sounds like you don't know for sure what you want to work on if you drop
out, and you just want to start a business. I suggest you stick it out with
school and _then_ go for your idea. If you know exactly what you want to do
with a startup, then it's a tougher choice. I'd still lean towards staying in
school and finishing your degree, depending on how far you are from
graduation, though.

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bokonist
My senior year I scaled back my studies to < 10 hours a week (including class
time and papers) and spent 60+ hours a week working on a startup. It was
absolutely the right decision. I had my expenses paid for, got to live with
all my friends, yet still had lots of time to work on my startup.

The only thing I might suggest is that if you don't have a clear idea, you
might want to consult for a while in the target industry. That way you can
learn the industry, meet the right people, and understand what people will pay
money for.

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shedd
I certainly agree that it doesn't need to be one or the other. Many
universities have great resources that you can tap, to help grow your
business. The larger state schools are, in many cases, aligned with a small
business development center or business accelerator programs. In addition, you
have access to the faculty, which can be a huge resource, plus a good source
for co-founders. College is a good time for exploration in entrepreneurship.

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adammichaelc
That's especially true at BYU, where I go. Several successful entrepreneurs,
including the founder of SEO.com, FundingUniverse, InfoSpace.com, Omniture,
and other successes, work with us in and around the Marriott School.

There's a very supportive startup environment in Utah overall, as well
(<http://www.siliconslopes.com/>).

All of this support and all of these resources is one of the reasons I've been
considering starting something new. When else will I have the opportunity to
have so much support and so many resources?

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rtf
School gave me the time to think and dabble and develop a lot of my personal
philosophies and perspective. The business world tends to do the opposite
because of the endless drive for fast and cheap. Either way, you lose one
aspect of your individuality and gain another.

The idea of improving "how things are done around here" - the process - is
what ultimately excites me about business. Others, I think, focus on making
the best products, on building a great community around the company brand, or
on improving the world's condition. And I think it is these high-level
endeavors that should be one's focus, no matter what the specific business is.
If you don't know which of those interest you, get a job in the field you
like, and the business problems you want to solve will reveal themselves
quickly.

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ashleyw
Well I "quit" school last year, I did so because I think I can learn more solo
than I can in a schooling environment. Or maybe not "more", but different
things that schooling may not focus on. (and I'll be able to return in a few
years)

In this time I do what I want with my time (OK most of the time, I still have
to do free lance to pay the bills), I don't just learn things, but I learn
what I need to do for the task I'm trying to do.

Founding a startup isn't a priority for me, but if the idea comes along then
thats great. :)

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vaksel
do both. This way you can do your early stage when you have no money coming in
while you have free board and food. You'll have 4 years for it to grow to a
good business. And if it doesn't, its no big deal...your 4 years of startup
experience will be much more valuable to your resume than a 4.0 gpa, extra
curriculars and a crappy internship

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qhoxie
It does not have to be one or the other. It sounds from the article like you
have a number of uncertainties on the company front.

I recommend working along side school work. That is easier said than done in
most cases, and you surely don't want both to suffer from each other, but it
is doable if you play your cards right.

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known
Depends on what type of impact your start-up company will have in the society.

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markbao
How about HS?

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speek
Dude, don't even think about dropping out of high school... at least get your
GED and graduate early.

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DabAsteroid
David Allen, founder of Quest Online, dropped out of high school.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_M5IMVjeSM>

A lot of the most-successful members of the Terman gifted-group dropped out of
high-school.

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unalone
Dropping out of high school contains much more risk, though, and things are
much harder.

Don't drop out of high school, just treat it with kid gloves. High school was
when I dabbled with things I thought I might want to do later on (I started a
community web site, I wrote and self-published a novel). As a result, in
college I find that I have not only the freedom to work on whatever projects I
want to, but I go into those projects with perspective and useful knowledge.

In the end, the tactic doesn't matter: only the results. You'll find people in
any field that were homeschooled and people who graduated with doctorates and
spent 10 years working at some generic job, just waiting. If it gets you where
you want to be, do it.

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LPTS
School mostly sucks. College is a mechanism where mediocre minds fight for
status, publishing and tenure like dogs over scraps and ensure the most
brilliant people are reduced to a low common denominator, and train people to
approach life like children even when they are growing up.

If you aren't 100% certain you need to be in school to do what you want with
your life, start the company. Learning is awesome, schooling functions as a
mechanism of control to make sure the really smart people don't learn so fast
that they live up to their potential.

