Hey makers, what’s your highest level of education, and do you consider yourself successful?
Recently, I posted here about how Y Combinator launched a program that allows young people to study at a university while building a product.
Many young people today idolise the likes of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and other dropouts who didn’t finish college but made it big with a breakthrough idea.
So I’m curious:
🎓 What’s your highest level of education?
💡 Do you consider yourself successful?
🚀 And what’s your take on dropping out early to build a business?
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Replies
IXORD
The ideal option for young people is both creating a product and studying. I understand that it is hard for young people to choose which field to create a product in and decide what to work on for a couple of years. It is really challenging. But it is a great practice. I would like to have the opportunity to create my own product and learn through it, with guidance while I am learning
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@ixord I think that this compromise is the best but very time demanding :/
@ixord I agree. Some basic knowledge is essential, but the real game changer is practice — over and over again. Theory in classrooms won’t get you very far. You need to develop your logical thinking by solving real problems. Building something real is an amazing way to learn. Having a mentor also helps a lot.
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@ixord @ilana_boeira I think when you have the best collective in the class, you can perform better. Unfortunately, many schools have diverse/mixed people, and you rarely fit with everyone, so collab opportunities are limited there.
IXORD
@ilana_boeira @busmark_w_nika Communication skills are important, especially during a person’s studies, but we also need to be able to adapt to different teams. Even if someone had a bad experience with classmates or colleagues at school, it’s still a valuable life lesson. What do you think?
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@ilana_boeira @ixord You are actually, right. We do not live in an ideal world :)
CalPulse
Educated in London, detoured through Chapel Hill. If success were a course credit, I’m still a few electives short. Back to building!
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@nyun_4 Nicely said. We need to earn it along the way!
I think this is a really interesting topic, and certainly one that differs across the world! A lot can be said for going to a university to 'grow up' if you haven't been exposed to the real world, but there are definitely other ways to start a career.
I'm a firm believer in that there's no firm approach. I did a degree apprenticeship, and I wouldn't be the same person today without it!
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@theo_crewe_read Would you recommend attending university rather than building?
@busmark_w_nika I think it's so personal. For me, the experience wouldn't have been worth it, but I might've realised i wanted to build things sooner? Who knows. I like to think that everything that has happened up until now has to have happened, because everything right now is great!
I think everybody needs to find their own path and experiment! Try lots of things and find out that way. What about you?
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@theo_crewe_read I would definitely start building sooner, but wouldn't drop the university. I like studying and having some education. You can never lose the knowledge (only when dementia comes in). I hope I will not be the case.
@busmark_w_nika hahah yes you're right. And I don't think there's a substitute for experience either!
Thanks for this topic!
Level of education: Master's Degree (MA)
I do, however, I stopped correlating my level of education with how I define "success" around the time I was completing my Bachelor's. I simply enjoy academia, and I enjoy learning - even if I got my MA, I have a yearly goal of attending at least one complex learning program (a +1 month online course, a short-term course facilitated by a University, and so on). I aspire to do my PhD, as I wish to be a part-time University teacher at some point in the future.
My take: not everybody enjoys academia, and that's really okay! Just like not everybody has to be an entrepreneur, or like not everybody has to be a big corporate manager. I know the path from academic dropout to successful entrepreneur is a popular topic for debates, but I never understood what's so interesting about it. Academia is for some, the entrepreneurship path for others, and maybe some will try to experiment with both. Both paths are challenging, require energy, and don't guarantee any form of success.
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@ruxandra_mazilu What do you study? I mean program.
Triforce Todos
I dropped out to build. No regrets. Learned more from failure than any classroom.
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@abod_rehman Did you attend any university or drop out of secondary school?
I've had a bumpy ride in my education and career. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s in Microbiology, but I had a hard time finding a job I truly enjoyed. So I taught myself how to code, fell in love with it, and have progressed quickly since then!
But it’s hard to measure “success”, since it can come with its downsides. I felt very successful a few years later when I landed a job at Atlassian as a software engineer, but I was miserable. I had to take a long break from programming to recharge and reflect on what I really wanted to do with my career. Now, my definition of success is different and personal to me — as it should be for everyone. It doesn’t depend on your level of education or salary, but on how fulfilled you feel!
You can be successful regardless of your education level. Real-life experience and trial and error across different opportunities matter far more when it comes to finding your passion and purpose!
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@ilana_boeira Why did you decide to study Microbiology? Was it a hobby in the early days or better paid?
I will be graduating with a PhD in Management in April 2026. The doctoral journey helped me identify a business idea emanating from the challenges of reading lot of papers. Eventually, we built GraceLitRev a research assistant tool that help researchers extract 28 variables from research papers and provides summary graphs.
Regarding success, give me 5 years from now and will have a good answer for you :)
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@gracelitrev If you were able to use your time productively, then it is a win for you! :) Congrats to your upcoming PhD :)
@busmark_w_nika Yes, I used it productively.