Am I being completely unreal?

[vondip]

Hi all,

I am a 22 year old web developer. In the last three years I have been developing for the mobile and web platform. I've been hired with no degree, based on my skills solely. I am now faced with a very difficult decision of 2 very compelling options.

Now, I am now in a cross path in my life. Should I go and study for my first degree in computer science, in a well known university, or should I join a team of 3 very good friends who are also extremely talented (a doctor in electrical engineering and another two excellent developers) and start a start-up?

I am currently convinced that I have a wonderful idea. I want to give it a try, but don't want to postpone my studies anymore. I decided I'll give this idea a chance.

To my understanding building a start-up and pursuing this dream can take forever, that's why unless I give it a final deadline I believe that I won't study at all. That why I decided that if by one year I raise an investment of a million dollars, and in two years I can can make 10 million dollars, I will forget about studying. How unreal am I? Am I daydreaming?

What would you do?

thank you!

[dstein]

  if by one year I raise an investment of a million dollars, and in 
  two years I can can make 10 million dollars

It sounds like you are already counting your winfall before even writing a single line of code. I think you have maybe been reading too much Techcrunch. In my experience startups are less like The Social Network and a lot more like Fight Club (same director btw).

I would do the startup only if you never intend on going back to school.

[TheSkeptic]

* Everybody else on your team is an engineer or developer. Obviously, this doesn't mean you can't be successful (I know, I know - look at Google), but you should consider the possibility that you're probably missing vital skills needed to compliment your startup's technical prowess. From UX to business development, you have to get a lot right to turn a great product into a great business, and that can be difficult when you have three other chefs in the kitchen who all cook the same cuisine.

* Starting a business with three close friends seems nice on paper, but don't assume that good friends necessarily make for good business partners.

* Talk about arbitrary dollar amounts calls into question not just your sense of reality, but your motivations. Can your startup raise $1 million? Perhaps. Will you have $10 million in cold hard cash in two years? Perhaps. But you could buy a lottery ticket and win the same amount within the next two years too. If you wouldn't plan your life around a potential financial windfall from a lottery ticket, why would you plan your life around a potential financial windfall from a startup? The number of self-made 24 year-olds with $10 million-plus net worths is quite small, but you probably already know that.

[mdkess]

Do both. Talk to these guys, make a time commitment, and you can pull both of these handily. Just don't count on too much sleep.

Some things to consider - there is a certain glamour to the startup life, and certainly you can make it big. Statistically however, you will lose money - so if you are chasing gold, chances are it's a pipe dream. Certainly there's a chance, but you are gambling if you are just going after money. If you are going to do a startup, do it for the experience, and for the act of creation, but not to get rich.

Not having a degree, you are going to get yourself into a tough situation though. If you ever decide to get a job at an established company, you'll face a couple of things: first, HR will probably throw out your resume, and even when you get interviews, chances are your knowledge won't align with what they are testing for (algorithms, mostly). Plus you might run into the issue of investors not taking you seriously.

Certainly school will always be there - you won't ruin your life by not going back right away. Yet I think these are all important things to consider.

[gacba]

I feel your pain. You are in a unique position as a developer. Most of what you learn in your degree program, whatever it is, will not have direct relevance on how to run a business, create a product, build a company, or how to work with other people in a business environment. I have several friends who all either did some college and dropped out it bored them and their interests led them to successful careers in software (two of them are senior independent consultants, one is a CTO and founder of several startups). Lack of degree was only a barrier for a brief time when their experience wasn't strong enough to carry them forward. It's no such barrier now.

In your particular case, I think you should seize the opportunity to build something for yourself. Whether you succeed or fail will be immaterial compared to what you learn from the experience. Like someone said, school will always be there.

I say go for it. You're only young once.

[cpt1138]

The only thing I've ever regretted in my life is not going and doing a startup right out of high-school. In hind sight I already know it failed, but I still regret it. School will always be there IMHO.

[robflynn → cpt1138]

I joined a start up right out of high school. It went belly up in 2001 or so, but that lead to some other jobs and what not. Though, now I'm 30 and looking for work and kind of wishing I'd done college right after high school.

Maybe it's a 'the grass is greener' kind of thing. Though I did have the same mindset that "school will always be there." I just never quite made it back to "there."

(My response might be a but jumbled, but I am agreeing with you, while at the same time looking back on my own thoughts and feelings of past decisions. Sorry for any confusion.)

[vondip → robflynn]

This is my fear exactly. To my understanding life has got its own tendency to unfold. The older you are, the more distractions you have. Chances are slimier to finish a degree in a well known \ respected university. This is my fear.

[vondip → cpt1138]

Thank you, your response means a lot to me. Do you think the figures I talked about are exaggerated?

[cpt1138 → vondip]

Yes I do think they are exaggerated. However I would say do it and set yourself a timeframe to re-evaluate, regardless of money.

[nostrademons]

You are being unreal, but I'd go with the startup anyway.

School will always be there, and your experience won't be that different based on age. I had friends up to about age 26 when I was in college, and I've known people that did it all throughout their 20s. The chance to found a startup with people you really respect doesn't arise all that often, though. Take advantage of it and see where it leads you, and if it doesn't work out, then you can go back to school.

[gmyachtsman]

It depends on what you would want out of college. College could be a very social experience where you talk things out, think a lot and make great friends. If you have a great relationship with your 3 friends you are half way there already. The other thing you get in college is inspiration from a few great professors, if you are lucky enough to find them.

[vondip → gmyachtsman]

what about the studies themselves? From what I read here, most don't seem to have too much appreciation towards them.

[keeptrying]

Look at your results so far. It seems from your writing that your intrinsically motivated to learn and execute.

Really good teams coming together is a rare phenomenon. Go follow your passion.

Just keep aside enough money so that if all goes to hell you can start your degree afterwards.

[salman89]

What do you hope to get out of a degree that you don't have already?

[vondip → salman89]

knowledge I guess, I think it's an important period in ones life. safety.

[bricestacey → vondip]

It's not worth it for knowledge alone. I'm finishing my degree now, almost 25 been working full time since 19, having completely ignored other students. I lived out the just doing it for the piece of paper and knowledge and it's not fulfilling. If you go to school, I'd suggest immersing yourself in it, networking with others, taking the extra steps to actually ge a deep understanding of the material. If that's not how you do it, startup would be best.