College Vs. Entreprenuership

[Jeremy]

You guys asked for more interesting posts in my suggestions thread. I deliver.

In all seriousness though, I have a B.S. degree in business management, and to be honest I could care less.

Once my daughters get older, I would rather give them $100K to start a business than money to waste 4 years to get a generic degree in something they have no passion for. Not to mention, they still need to find a job after they graduate!

In my opinion, the whole idea of "Well, at least you can fall back on a degree" is silly in this economy.

Share your thoughts on college versus entrepreneurship. This should be a fun thread....

[Trikkur]

I dropped out of college 1 year ago. I was 20 years old. I wasn't making much playing poker, but I thought I could do so much better on my own. It was hands down the best decision I've made of my entire life. I think I am fairly successful for my age and have loved every minute of it.

It is a relatively risk option though. I don't want to offer it was a solution to everyone making the decision, but I also must say, don't listen to everyone else. People are so afraid of taking a "risky option" they are blind to the possibilities. Sit down and make what you feel is the best decision yourself.

[pokerprop]

Those who think with the attitude "I have this to fall back on" are probably much more likely to fail than those who just do.

Great quote by Napoleon Hill "Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win - essential to success. "

This isn't a relatively new success principle either. The word used in the bible for Champion when David and Galliath were both referred to as great champions literal definition translation is "one who is willing to stand alone in the way of".

If online poker totally died, if search engines all closed up shop tomorrow, if everything i knew how to do failed to exists.. I have no doubt I'd learn something else in no time at all, and getting a job working for someone else would never even cross my mind or become a temptation.

Anyways in my opinion to peruse your future, dreams, goals and aspirations to the best of your ability (aggressively) does not allow for allocating time thinking about fall backs. What you learn in the process and the person you become, mastering overcoming challenges and adversities while developing a stone will and confidence is all the learning experience in the world you'll ever need to create fall backs after the fact when they truly become necessary. Anytime spent thinking about them in advanced is just wasted time imo.

Let me give a more practical example:

If tomorrow affiliates started being arrested and I determined its not worth it for me to continue to be involved in gambling I have more outs than I can count:

I could pick one of a zillion other things available to market online. Lets say though I didn't want to market online for some reason. Maybe something crazy happened and there was a 90% tax on affiliate earnings.. who knows but for whatever reason there was something preventing me from doing it.

Well I could be a content writer, php coder, do css work, design and sell themes etc.

If this didn't work I could do something I've never done before. I could consult for businesses teaching their sales people how to be more successful doing what they're doing. I know I could find ways to increase profits for businesses and I also believe fully I could network well enough to find the opportunities.

I could write poker books.

Actually I could write books on just about anything.

I could probably come up with a list of 5000 things I could do.

All of them I could do because I spent so much time in the process of being an entrepreneur and growing my own business. Confidence has grown to the point of being unquestionable in just about anything I do, and skill level increases on an ongoing basis.

So you see just going after what I want with no thoughts to anything else has given me far more outs than any college degree would have.

My opinion is not because I skipped college. on the contrary I graduated high school 2 weeks before my 16 birthday, and started college courses immediately. I did 6-7 courses some semesters and took summer classes each year other than the first. When I decided to quit I had enough credits for a bachelors degree, but never went about applying for transfers and sticking to a major. When i quit my parents, friends, and business colleagues told me I'd some day regret not getting that degree. Well hopefully on my death bed my last words are not "I wish I had got that degree" but till this day never once have I ever though those words.

[superiorword]

In my opinion, the whole idea of "Well, at least you can fall back on a degree" is silly in this economy.

Absolutely right. I have done a bachelors degree in Information technology as well as MBA in marketing and finance. When I decided to start my own business instead of going for a regular 9 to 5 job, everyone said it's a bad decision( I got some excellent job offers after completing my MBA, and rejected all of them)....it was indeed a high risk decision, but proved to be excellent in the end.


People work for companies, working their ass off to make more and more money to the company..and the companies pay them peanuts for all their hard work. If a person do that much work for him/herself, it will definitely prove to be fruitful....you just need to have the patience.

[Planet Mark]

Slightly different perspective on this debate... a decent degree (not just some crummy state college, talking 'red brick' here) teaches 'the kids' a lot about how to structure arguments both in writing and in person, how to analyse and process knowledge so that the useful nuggets can be effectively used and how to communicate their ideas effectively to a 3rd party... whatever the subject (mine was Psychology, can't get more useless than that!!)

A degree is no 'through ticket' to a career anymore (been devalued over the years so that a post-grad is now the equivalent), but the fact that someone has one means that they have shown they can stick out a 4 year course as well as commuicate and analyse... for this reason I immediately discarded non-degree CVs while working for a corporate and still have a huge preference for hiring educated people here at the 'lil Planet Corp.

Not saying that non-educated people can not be smart of course - many are very smart indeed.

The degree / no-degree debate is also greatly affected by the 'Silent Witness' effect. Those who dropped out of college and became a big success are lauded by the press, forums and held in great respect by the masses... what we do not hear about is the other 98% who dropped out to follow a dream, failed and ended up driving a fork-lift for the next 25 years (or working in a cubicle in some brainless task etc etc).

Besides... the way I remember it, college was a load of fun!

Besides #2... I enjoy speaking with well read people who have stong views on a wide range of subjects and enjoy debating them vigorously... afraid that you just don't get that with the uneducated rabble.

Cheers, Mark

[pokerprop]

I'm not sure if the suggestion is that the 98% failure rate is correlated to the education/degree or not. I didn't get that indication from the post, only after reading a second time I though about it.

I'd argue though that the correlation would be there, but only on a very minor scale. The same 98% who fail, are the same 98% who would have been passed up for promotions (if they get a degree and go to work). Its the nature, its generally laziness, excuses, or other mental blocks.

I've never known a single person who has failed overall in business who went into it giving it there all, acting the entire time as if retreat were not an option.

Its really simple, the only thing that need to happen first is to make the decision to be in the two percent who make it. After that its a matter of just doing, believing and moving towards the goals with expectation they'll be obtained.

Poker affiliating is extremely easy!! It just takes a lot of hard work most don't have the belief system or level of commitment it takes to do. Same is true of many other business.

Its not hard to point out the reasons why most fail.

[Planet Mark]

Great points Prop... belief and hard work are always the key, whether educated or not.

My point was more about how the 'silent witness' effect changes our perception of the college vs non-college debate than chances success and failure per se.

Cheers, Mark

[Pinkpoker]

can I put myself up for adoption ? I hope your daughters realise how lucky they will be to have this sort of start and opportunity. Now back to the adoption details ......

[TheDonk]

I'd argue though that the correlation would be there, but only on a very minor scale. The same 98% who fail, are the same 98% who would have been passed up for promotions (if they get a degree and go to work). Its the nature, its generally laziness, excuses, or other mental blocks.

I agree with this and would also add that some of the other 98% are going to try over and over and over, with a greater chance of success with each attempt. We don't always succeed on our first, fifth, or twentieth try. Some people try all their lives, then make their riches in their 50's or later in life. Most of them will say it was worth it, to pursue life the way they wanted and to finally come out on top. So, while maybe 2% succeed the first time, that number goes up as people get older, wiser, and better business minded.

[PokerNations]

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics back in 2005 shows that 34% of new businesses fail within the first two years and 56% fail within the first four years.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/05/ressum.pdf

Just because you have a passion for your work does not guarantee any level of success. It helps, I won't argue that. But if you failed to improve your education and gain an understanding of legal, accounting, I.T., etc. matters then you may not be properly equipped to operate your own business no matter how strong your passion for a particular niche.

Running a business requires you wear many hats, or hire the right people to wear the hats that don't fit you. Having been exposed to the proper education will help prepare you for the various tasks you have in front of you.

Your business could fail for a variety of reasons, some within and some outside your control:

Economy
New Technology Replaces/Changes Your Market
Competitors With More Resources
You Picked A Niche That Is Too Small
You Picked A Niche That Is Better Suited For Another Region
etc.

I think it's irresponsibile to suggest people just throw their eggs into the basket of entreprenuership and not leave themselves an out. That's very similar to playing poker professionally. Some can do it, but most cannot make a living from it and many will fail.

Sure, you see the few phenoms like Tom Dwan enjoying ridiculous success, but how many other underage kids tried and failed that we never heard of?

Yes, we all know it can suck royally to work for someone else while they profit off your labor. But the harsh reality is that not everyone can succeed as an entreprenuer, and many of the skills you learn in college will not only help you to operate your business, but to give you an out if things go south and you need to work for someone else.