I'm not sure I agree with your assessment about which is a faster route to failure. A startup can definitely be a fast route to failure. Working in an establi

I'm not sure I agree with your assessment about which is a faster route to failure. A startup can definitely be a fast route to failure. Working in an established corporation can be a startling experience though. Sometimes people seem to do absolutely nothing and collect a nice bonus or raise at the end of the year, etc. On the other hand, when I started grad school, it was very clear that some students were in over their heads and they were mostly gone by the first semester. Other people did take longer to realize that grad school was not for them, but the largest group of drop outs seemed to happen around the one semester mark. I think a lot of people just have their preconceived notions of grad school undone, and almost always in a negative way.