Well a bit tricky to answer generically... everyone is different, lots of conditionals and unknowns to give a truly good answer. The good news is that it sound

Well a bit tricky to answer generically... everyone is different, lots of conditionals and unknowns to give a truly good answer. The good news is that it sounds like your parents are not stupid and neither are you. That being said while you may have lots of good energy and exuberance towards your startup, it will (extremely likely) fail. To be a realist first attempts at startups are usually the first step in a long learning curve (although there are very rare exceptions). So instead of thinking about this specific company you should rather think of it as embarking on the path of being an entrepreneur - most people who take this path fail a lot, have a handful of wins, embrace volatility, and never grace the pages to Techcrunch. In short it is the high risk/reward path - almost like playing basketball with hopes of making the NBA (although typically with better outcomes for those who never make the big leagues). The college path, assuming you are smart about it, dont take out crippling debt, and major in something half way useful, has benefits as well. Its typically an interesting experience intellectually, socially, and culturally. Despite what you may hear education is still very strongly correlated to earnings so in that regard it can typically open up opportunities to good paying jobs. It is also can allow for future educational opportunities (MBA, MS, etc) as well as more seamless industry changes if the bottom falls out of tech. In that regard it is the lower risk option that can give a jump start to ones career if done correctly. The good thing is that neither option precludes the other. Start a startup, then go to college... Go to college, start a startup while your there... etc. Either option sounds interesting - my personal vote would be college in that Im more risk averse and it has been well studied that education correlates with entrepreneurial success.