On one hand, I admire the guy for tackling such a worthwhile problem and also having accomplished so much so young. On the other hand, I wonder if this may be

On one hand, I admire the guy for tackling such a worthwhile problem and also having accomplished so much so young. On the other hand, I wonder if this may be the case of being extremely book smart and not so streetwise. Why not wait till you finish your PhD at the young age of 22? You will be more mature by then and know quite a bit more. If you already had built a working prototype(doesn't even have to be MVP) and experienced some sort of positive feedback, sure drop out. Otherwise, continue working on your ideas in your spare time. Bill, Larry and Sergey only dropped out when they had something happening. For those already in the workplace example of patio11 is very admirable. The interview mentions that they are just getting started and are at least 6 months from a prototype. Unless Andrew has some sort of edge from his studies, this venture doesn't have any inherent advantages. Disclaimer: I dropped out at 19 partially because I heard the PhD guys I was writing software for complaining so much about their progress. It took me 15 years to get back into school.