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I am an entrepreneur and have started and sold several successful businesses. Based on this experience i wrote the article and concluded that having life experi

I am an entrepreneur and have started and sold several successful businesses. Based on this experience i wrote the article and concluded that having life experience was much more valuable to my success than going to college. Hence the title.

Mz 16y ago
Dropping out of college -- or skipping it/putting it off -- does not guarantee one will acquire the kind of "life experience" that makes someone a good entrepreneur. I'm a college drop-out and my two sons chose to not pursue college. All three of us have plans to make it as entrepreneurs. I think we did the right thing -- for our specific circumstances. That doesn't mean it generalizes. The title Skipping College makes one a better entrepreneur -- which is what you chose to use for purposes of posting it to HN -- is misleading and a poor fit for the actual content of the piece. It's also not the title listed on the actual webpage, which is Living Life is better than Dying in College. In other words it's a form of bait of the sort that isn't much appreciated on this forum since it amounts to "bait and switch": We will call it something we think people here would be interested in reading even though the article really doesn't discuss the topic suggested by the title which was made up specifically for this forum filled with wanna-be entrepreneurs.
- jaltucher 16y ago
  I think if you follow thru on the article and read the associate links (8 alternatives) you'll see that i do more than say "skip college". For me, its about how one lives a good life. People forget that there are three basic ideas: A) how to find happiness B) how to eradicate unhappiness C) how to have a smooth, daily existence What I try to show in this article (and the articles I link to) is that the above can be (not WILL BE but CAN BE) achieved without going to college. And, btw, since I was able to achieve some degree of happiness through entrepreneurship I have some expertise in saying this.
  - Mz 16y ago
    A) I did read the link on "8 alternatives", which also didn't really talk about becoming a better entrepreneur through skipping college. I stand by my assertion that the title you chose for promoting your website here on HN is misleading. B) I have cystic fibrosis and so does my 23 year old son. I have figured out how to get us well so I think I have some expertise for talking about stuff like that. So far, it's gotten me accused of being a liar, charlatan, and snake oil salesman and gotten me thrown off of at least one CF list. So good luck with claiming "I'm an entrepreneur and I'm happy" as a credential. (A college degree generally carries more weight than that. Yes, I think it bites...) PS, rather than continue to argue with me, you would have been better served by changing the title on HN to something more representative of the actual content. You might want to step lightly. Getting flagged and possibly ultimately banned here won't achieve your obvious goal of promoting your site (and upcoming book).
    - jaltucher 16y ago
      How is it not representative when i directly suggest that one could become an entrepreneur instead of going to college. The benefits: A) get a faster start B) not burdened with debt C) learn to communicate and sell D) learn to develop ideas that (hopefully) will get accepted by the marketplace E) learn to fail and bounce back from failure. These are all qualities that could occur (which I mention in the articles and their comments) by making the choice to become an entrepreneur instead of going to college. I appreciate your perspective but not sure why you are down on this topic.
      - Mz 16y ago
        The article doesn't say any of that. So the title is not representative of the actual content. I don't know how to say that any more clearly.
        jaltucher 16y ago
        Hmmm, I believe the article says all of that. I'm afraid we're going to have to agree to disagree here. What I suggest is you check out the articles that go with it and the comments I've made in the article. I'm sorry you are not seeing it. i can't be more clear than I've been. In fact, much of the criticism I've received on these articles has to do directly with the fact that "not all kids are entrepreneurs" which i address clearly in these articles.
beej71 16y ago
I agree that life experience has much higher dollar value. But I think the bit that in some cases you might be missing is that college can further boost the value of the life experience. Push to the extreme a little bit to see what I mean. What is more valuable: grade school, or life experience? You (hopefully) wouldn't say, "What a waste of time grade school is! Life experience is much more valuable!" You should be able to see how the two interrelate and feed one another. The suggestion that life experience has more "value" than school is almost nonsensical. Assuming ideal grade school. I went to college from 1990 to 1997. Somehow I managed to get a BS/MS in computer science and came out of school only $2000 in debt and full time job waiting. (Thank you, HP, for the opportunity to work as an intern, and telecommute during the school year, no less!! What a gift!) It was totally worth it...for me! All this being said, it is different today than it was then, and tuition is huge. I've always been a big fan of paying for school for people who can't afford it--they generally make us more in tax revenue later than those who don't attend college. If you just look at the federal grants I got for college, you're looking at about a 10,000% ROI for the feds in tax right now. Sure, they'd have made money off me anyway, but the point is they got their measly investment back with ease. If I had my way, the college system (and grade school system for that matter) would be hugely reworked, and in a way I'm guessing you'd approve of based on your complaints. I still haven't figured out how to mesh it with the existing accreditation infrastructure (which is a helluva thing in itself). The status quo is pretty well entrenched.
- jaltucher 16y ago
  You did it the right way, to have HP help you and it sounds like you knew what your passions are. Right now student loan debt is the highest ever so most don't have that opportunity. But I sincerely congratulate you on making the most of the resources available to you. I wish I had done that.

Mz 16y ago

Dropping out of college -- or skipping it/putting it off -- does not guarantee one will acquire the kind of "life experience" that makes someone a good entrepreneur. I'm a college drop-out and my two sons chose to not pursue college. All three of us have plans to make it as entrepreneurs. I think we did the right thing -- for our specific circumstances. That doesn't mean it generalizes. The title Skipping College makes one a better entrepreneur -- which is what you chose to use for purposes of posting it to HN -- is misleading and a poor fit for the actual content of the piece. It's also not the title listed on the actual webpage, which is Living Life is better than Dying in College. In other words it's a form of bait of the sort that isn't much appreciated on this forum since it amounts to "bait and switch": We will call it something we think people here would be interested in reading even though the article really doesn't discuss the topic suggested by the title which was made up specifically for this forum filled with wanna-be entrepreneurs.

jaltucher 16y ago
I think if you follow thru on the article and read the associate links (8 alternatives) you'll see that i do more than say "skip college". For me, its about how one lives a good life. People forget that there are three basic ideas: A) how to find happiness B) how to eradicate unhappiness C) how to have a smooth, daily existence What I try to show in this article (and the articles I link to) is that the above can be (not WILL BE but CAN BE) achieved without going to college. And, btw, since I was able to achieve some degree of happiness through entrepreneurship I have some expertise in saying this.
- Mz 16y ago
  A) I did read the link on "8 alternatives", which also didn't really talk about becoming a better entrepreneur through skipping college. I stand by my assertion that the title you chose for promoting your website here on HN is misleading. B) I have cystic fibrosis and so does my 23 year old son. I have figured out how to get us well so I think I have some expertise for talking about stuff like that. So far, it's gotten me accused of being a liar, charlatan, and snake oil salesman and gotten me thrown off of at least one CF list. So good luck with claiming "I'm an entrepreneur and I'm happy" as a credential. (A college degree generally carries more weight than that. Yes, I think it bites...) PS, rather than continue to argue with me, you would have been better served by changing the title on HN to something more representative of the actual content. You might want to step lightly. Getting flagged and possibly ultimately banned here won't achieve your obvious goal of promoting your site (and upcoming book).
  - jaltucher 16y ago
    How is it not representative when i directly suggest that one could become an entrepreneur instead of going to college. The benefits: A) get a faster start B) not burdened with debt C) learn to communicate and sell D) learn to develop ideas that (hopefully) will get accepted by the marketplace E) learn to fail and bounce back from failure. These are all qualities that could occur (which I mention in the articles and their comments) by making the choice to become an entrepreneur instead of going to college. I appreciate your perspective but not sure why you are down on this topic.
    - Mz 16y ago
      The article doesn't say any of that. So the title is not representative of the actual content. I don't know how to say that any more clearly.
      - jaltucher 16y ago
        Hmmm, I believe the article says all of that. I'm afraid we're going to have to agree to disagree here. What I suggest is you check out the articles that go with it and the comments I've made in the article. I'm sorry you are not seeing it. i can't be more clear than I've been. In fact, much of the criticism I've received on these articles has to do directly with the fact that "not all kids are entrepreneurs" which i address clearly in these articles.

beej71 16y ago

I agree that life experience has much higher dollar value. But I think the bit that in some cases you might be missing is that college can further boost the value of the life experience. Push to the extreme a little bit to see what I mean. What is more valuable: grade school, or life experience? You (hopefully) wouldn't say, "What a waste of time grade school is! Life experience is much more valuable!" You should be able to see how the two interrelate and feed one another. The suggestion that life experience has more "value" than school is almost nonsensical. Assuming ideal grade school. I went to college from 1990 to 1997. Somehow I managed to get a BS/MS in computer science and came out of school only $2000 in debt and full time job waiting. (Thank you, HP, for the opportunity to work as an intern, and telecommute during the school year, no less!! What a gift!) It was totally worth it...for me! All this being said, it is different today than it was then, and tuition is huge. I've always been a big fan of paying for school for people who can't afford it--they generally make us more in tax revenue later than those who don't attend college. If you just look at the federal grants I got for college, you're looking at about a 10,000% ROI for the feds in tax right now. Sure, they'd have made money off me anyway, but the point is they got their measly investment back with ease. If I had my way, the college system (and grade school system for that matter) would be hugely reworked, and in a way I'm guessing you'd approve of based on your complaints. I still haven't figured out how to mesh it with the existing accreditation infrastructure (which is a helluva thing in itself). The status quo is pretty well entrenched.

jaltucher 16y ago
You did it the right way, to have HP help you and it sounds like you knew what your passions are. Right now student loan debt is the highest ever so most don't have that opportunity. But I sincerely congratulate you on making the most of the resources available to you. I wish I had done that.