(Source: http:/ /www.forbes.com/sites/johngreathouse/2012/06/05/business-tips- from-college-dropouts-zuckerberg-jobs-gates-dell-ellison-branson-and-disney/)

Business Tips From College Dropouts: Zuckerberg, Jobs, Gates, Dell, Ellison, Branson and DisneyAccording to a January 2012 Forbesarticle, nearly 16% of the 400 most

affluent Americans do not have a college degree. When one considers the

400 richest people on the entire planet, the percentage of non-college

graduates doubles. Shocking? Hardly.

PayPal Co-founder Peter Thiel has granted 24 people under 21 years old

$100,000 each, with plans to allocate additional scholarships in coming

years. The primary stipulation is that each Thiel Fellow must drop out of

college, for at least two years, and pursue their “entrepreneurial ventures,

research and self-education.”

For many entrepreneurs, college has little appeal. Academia’s arbitrary,

bureaucratic structure, combined with its predominant focus on theoretical

issues, causes many entrepreneurs to depart college early. Others, such

asWalt Disney and Richard Branson never even enroll.

Given the advent of “drop out of college” scholarships and the success of

high-profile entrepreneurs who only earned a high-school diploma, it is

prudent to consider their business advice.

1.      Mark Zuckerberg – “The dynamic of managing people and

being CEO in a company is a lot different than being college

roommates with someone.”

Although it may be comfortable to start a company with your friends, it is a

mistake, unless your friend(s) happens to be ideally suited to their role in

your venture. Hang out with your friends when you are relaxing and work

with the most talented people you can recruit.

Facebook had to resolve expensive and time-consuming litigation related to

promising early hires senior positions and substantial equity stakes. This

could have been avoided if, from the company’s outset, Mr. Zuckerberg had

focused on hiring all-star employees and not simply friends and friends-of-

friends.

2.      Steve Jobs – “So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this

amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you

think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it.

Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then

we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you.

You haven’t got through college yet.’” 

Even if an established leader in your industry does not see the wisdom in

your ideas, do not waiver. As Clay Christensen aptly points out in The

Innovator’s Dilemma, a large company’s defense of its legacy clouds its

ability to appropriately assess the potential impact of disruptive

technologies.

Entrepreneurs are misfits. Our resumes are routinely non-linear, incomplete,

and seemingly random. If you are hiring Bank Robbers, you must look

beyond their lack of accomplishments and assess their innate abilities. When

you interview candidates during the early stages of your startup, who is far

more important than what, because the tasks the candidate previously

performed may be only partially applicable to the role they will play in your

venture.

3.      Bill Gates – “The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to

write programs, and to study great programs that other people have

written. In my case, I went to the garbage cans at the Computer

Science Center and fished out listings of their operating system.”

Gates’ experiential approach to learning programming is typical of

entrepreneurs, especially those with little formal education. One could

broadly recast Gates’ quote by saying, “the best way to prepare to become

an entrepreneur is to start a business and study how great startups

succeed.”

No one ever accused Mr. Gates of being a master programmer. However, his

first-hand knowledge of how to write, test and commercialize code

facilitated his ability to lead Microsoft from startup to world dominance.

4.      Michael Dell – “As important as school was, I found that it

could be very disruptive to a steady income.” 

Michael Dell promised his parents that he would return to school if the sales

at his startup did not meet his expectations. “I had to give it a full go and

see what happened. I couldn’t resist the opportunity. The deal was, I

would start into business full time in May, and at the end of August

we would take a look and decide if it was doing well.”

Although he has spoken at numerous graduation ceremonies since he left

college, Michael never returned to school as a student. “I was, you know,

rebellious, an 18, 19-year old and just did what I wanted to do and all

worked out OK.”

5.      Larry Ellison – “I have had all of the disadvantages required for

success.” 

Entrepreneurs are often societal rejects. We often avoid the rational path

and make our own job because we are unable to accommodate the rigidity

associated with taking a job. Iconoclasm is not a requirement of

entrepreneurship, but it certainly is a common trait. The tendency to

challenge and reject the norm often puts entrepreneurs at odds with

conventional wisdom.

Underdog status is also a common driving force among successful

entrepreneurs. A feeling of inferiority due to a lack of family wealth and

connections, formal education, and traditional career accomplishments often

drives entrepreneurs to work frenetically as a way of compensating for such

perceived shortcomings.

6.      Richard Branson – “My mother was determined to make us

independent. When I was four years old, she stopped the car a few

miles from our house and made me find my own way home across the

fields. I got hopelessly lost.”

Similar to Tony Hsieh’s parents, Richard’s mom reinforced a heightened

sense of self-sufficiency. Richard dropped out of school at the age of 16 to

begin publishing a magazine targeted to young people, called Student.

Richard leveraged the fact that record companies were Student’s biggest

advertisers to subsequently launch a record store. He then built his initial

store into an international chain which ultimately led to the creation of a

highly successful record label.

Richard’s lack of formal education no doubt caused him to feel lost at

various times during his entrepreneurial journey. Fortunately, his mom

instilled in him a tenacity and sense of purpose that successfully guided him

“across the fields” and helped him overcome his lack of “book learning.”

7.      Walt Disney – “The way to get started is to quit talking and

begin doing.”

The best advice in Guy Kawasaki’s The Art of the Start is on page 9, “Get

Going.” Start. There is little likelihood that the value proposition you initially

explore is the go-to-market strategy your venture will ultimately pursue.

However, you will never discover the intersection of your core competencies

and the market’s desires if you do not start somewhere.

What are you waiting for? School will always be there should you decide to

take a few years off from startups to hone your beer drinking skills.

( Source: http://www.boston.com/business/innovation/2013/05/15/billionaire-

college-dropouts/kjM5IsNLpcCcj7QWGIH7iN/pictures.html?pg=2)

Wealthy college dropouts

Mark ZuckerbergNet worth: $13.3 billion

Zuckerberg, who launched social networking giant Facebook out of his Harvard dorm room, dropped out to focus on his new site full-time. Nearly 10 years later, Facebook operates out of Palo Alto, Calif. The company’s stock price has seen a lot of twists and turns since going public in May 2012.

David KarpNet worth: $200 million

One of the newest members of the ultra-wealthy club, Karp recently sold his start-up, Tumblr, to Yahoo! for a cool $1.1 billion. He also has found a new mentor in Yahoo!’s chief executive, Marrissa Mayer, who herself was an instrumental early employee at Google.

Karp dropped out of Bronx High School of Science at the age of 14.

Ted TurnerNet worth: $2 billion

The media mogul was expelled from Brown University after he was caught with a female student in his dorm room. He returned to campus in 1989 as the keynote speaker at the National Association of College Broadcasters conference, where he was rewarded an honorary BA. (Pictured: Turner with ex-wife Jane Fonda).

Bill GatesNet worth: $67 billion

Harvard dropout Gates cofounded Microsoft in 1975, but today, most of his fortune is spread across private equity, stocks, and bonds. It’s those investments – not Microsoft – that are responsible for the $61 billion jump in his fortune over the past year. Regarded as one of the world’s most generous people, Gates is committed to using his influence to make the world a better place. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which Gates founded with his wife, has donated billions of dollars worldwide towards improving global health and development.

Gabe NewellNet worth: $1.1 billion

Newell, who dropped out of Harvard, is a former Microsoft programmer. He and coworker Mike Harrington left the tech giant together in 1996 and founded Valve, a video game developer and digital distribution innovator, with the small fortunes they had amassed while with Microsoft. Valve is responsible for the Half-Life video games, as well as Steam software.

Sheldon AdelsonNet worth: $26.5 billion

Adelson, who dropped out of the City College of New York, owns a number of casinos and hotels. He is the chief executive officer and chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corp.; a branch of this company operates Vegas’ Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center. He also owns Israel YaHom, a daily Hebrew-language newspaper in Israel.

Dustin MoskovitzNet worth: $3.8 billion

Like Zuckerberg, Moskovitz is a Harvard dropout who helped found Facebook. He left the social networking giant in 2008 to found Web app Asana, intended to improve team communication. Forbes ranked him the world’s youngest self-made billionaire because of his 7.6 percent share in Facebook.

Quincy JonesNet worth: $310 million (estimated)

The acclaimed musician, who produced Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album, was on scholarship to the Schillinger House (now Berklee College of Music), when he dropped out. He went on to earn 79 Grammy Award nominations and 27 awards, including a 1991 Grammy Legend Award.

John MayerNet worth: $40 million (estimated)

Native New Englander John Mayer was a student at Berklee College of Music until he moved to Atlanta to refine his skills. Today, he is an internationally known rock star with a huge fan base – not to mention he’s dated the likes of Katy Perry and Jennifer Aniston.