

Acquiring expertise in a field in order to start a startup? - opticks1

I started Physics grad school this Fall, but I have recently considered dropping out in order to find a job in industry (I'd like to work at a startup). I know this could look really bad to employers, but I just have no motivation to continue my studies<p>Recently I've been working on a programming project on my own (a sort of video game), as a way to improve my programming skills, and I've been working on it with alot more motivation than studying for my Physics classes. I'm still fairly new to programming so I can't say I'm committed to programming over Physics yet<p>Anyways, the semester is almost over and I have to make a decision soon as to whether to move back home (Los Angeles) or stay in Austin to find a job. After reading Paul Graham's essays, I think I'm willing to take the risks involved in running my own business, or at least joining someone else's startup.<p>But my programming skills aren't that great. Most startups do not interest me (I'm not interested in Iphone apps, social networking, etc). But analytics seems pretty interesting.<p>Startups are usually done by people who are already very talented in a field of expertise. The problem is that I would like to get that expertise in some business area so I can then start my own business. That is why I would like to get some kind of programming job in a business that I think I would like enough that I can become an expert in it (ie Analytics). Therefore, I see myself as wasting time by staying in grad school.<p>The question I'm dealing with is whether it really is worth it to stay in Austin to try to find an Analytics startup (however, I haven't seen many job listings online for analytics startups), or just go back to LA and work for an analytics non-startup?
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kunalb
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