Any adventure you embark on will involve some degree of luck. However, You not getting into Stanford isn't because you weren't lucky. It´s because you didn't ha

Any adventure you embark on will involve some degree of luck. However, You not getting into Stanford isn't because you weren't lucky. It´s because you didn't have the connections, the money, the reputation, the scores, the will, the intellect or any of 100 different reasons. Don´t blame it all on luck just because that absolves you of the responsibility. As someone who has exited multiple startups let me tell you first hand that startups are what you make them out to be. The success of a startup however, while there are some large factors that are outside of your control, is mostly a function of how hard working and smart you are. You need to make the right decisions and work hard for a long time toward a vision that you believe in. Meanwhile being a student requires you to be somewhat good at bullshitting and maintaining a body temperature somewhere in the 30s (and for the students out there, dont get butt-hurt by this comment, it´s literally true). That said, you have to understand that startups are not for everyone. The best advice I can give you is to go out and work for a startup for a year or two and gain some experience. Additionally get close to the CEO and have him mentor you until you understand what it takes to run a company of that size. You might find that running the show isn't really for you, and there is no shame in that. Meanwhile, save all the cash you can because you will need every dollar once you eventually start your own thing if you decide to do so. It may take months or years until the money makes it in so you want to save up as much as possible and use those savings when the time is right.