I would totally disagree with this, given that in the first place, it is pretty unlikely for a high school student to get a decent hacking job at a med/large co

I would totally disagree with this, given that in the first place, it is pretty unlikely for a high school student to get a decent hacking job at a med/large company. More importantly though, working at a med/large company, you would learn a lot of new things -- most of them bad. There's a reason why big companies tend towards bureaucracy and inefficiency. It's not that the people in the company are stupid, but rather that as a company grows larger, the actions that are in the best interest of the individual increasingly diverge from the actions that are in the best interest of the company. While I agree that the soul-crushing, morality-corrupting experience of working at a large company will teach you many things that are essential to an entrepreneur later down the line, I think you would be better served developing some individuality and backbone through college or the yc experience. Both options will give you a chance to experience what it really means to make your own decisions and to sink or swim by them (assuming you are not living at home for college).