I did something like this and the bottom line for me would be that if you truly think it could be the next facebook, then go for it. Otherwise, hold off. Fina

I did something like this and the bottom line for me would be that if you truly think it could be the next facebook, then go for it. Otherwise, hold off. Financially speaking, if its the next facebook, then you'll be retired on an island somewhere. In almost all other scenarios, you'll end up worse off because you will be able to demand a higher salary post-graduation. In terms of skills garnered, it probably will accelerate your technical skills, but you will miss out on the opportunity to solidify your network at school (which takes time) and to graduate with your class. Not to mention, depending on the quality of the startup, it might actually hurt your technical acumen if you are learning the wrong patterns. I think a bigger question is... why now? What makes the draw to startups so strong that you want to leave school to do it? If the draw is to join a risky, hot-shot, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants company (as it was for me), then you might be in for a reality check when you're debugging spaghetti code for 8 hours a day. If you're really into the startup life, my advice would be to build a business while you have college as a safety net, then drop out once you have ramen profitability. The learning curve and potential payout there is way better than the opportunity to work at a crumby startup as an employee. ... and BTW, 70k in SF is a notch above starving. More than 50% of your take home would be going to rent at that salary, even if you're living with 6 roommates in the 'loin. With demand for devs through the roof, I'd demand 100k at least.