We were in a board meeting today and the founder/CEO made a comment
about a deal he’s working on and I said “well you learned that well in
school.” He smiled and said, “we didn’t go to school” (meaning
college).
I didn’t actually know that, but it did not surprise me. I
have learned that where someone went to college (or even if they didn’t
go to college) has absolutely no correlation to whether they will be a
good entrepreneur or not. I don’t pay attention to that part of a
resume. I focus on what they’ve done in the work world, what they’ve
shown they can do, and most importantly what they’ve done to date on
that specific startup.
We chuckled about that exchange and the
other VC on the board said “I think 20% or more of our
portfolio companies are led by entrepreneurs who didn’t graduate from
college.”
That got me thinking about our portfolio. This is a
guess because as I said, I don’t really know for sure, but I think
about seven or eight of the twenty-one portfolio companies listed on our website have founders who did not graduate from college. It’s not half, but it’s a large percentage.
There
are some reasons for this. Several of the founders of our portfolio
companies grew up in other parts of the world where college attendance
is less common. Some of the founders didn’t have the patience to sit
through four years of education they didn’t feel was relevant to them.
And some of the founders were too busy starting companies to finish
college.
Entrepreneurs don’t need degrees like lawyers and
doctors do. They are credentialed by virtue of their track record. The
first startup is hard but if they make that one work, they end up with
something much better than a college degree. They have a notch in their
belt. They’ve got a track record of success. Even if the first one is a
failure, I’d say that they’ve got something more than a degree. They’ve
shown they can start something from nothing, build a team, a product,
and maybe even a business.
We’ve been spending a lot of time
lately thinking about, talking about, learning about, and looking at
the whole education sector. Education is critically important. But you
don’t have to go to school to be educated and if being an entrepreneur
is your goal in life, that’s even more true.
(For more from Fred, visit his blog)
(Image source: unleashingideas.org)
