Should You Stay In School?

Innovators like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs all quit school to pursue their dreams. Should you?

Inc. takes a look at two entrepreneurial college students. One chooses to leave school and work his business full time, while the other decided to do both at the same time. Consider their argument, and tell us what you think in the comments below.

Trevor Ownes, 22, is the founder of InsideStartups.org, and he is on leave from New York University. Tyler McIntyre, 19, is the founder of Lucid Technologies and still happily attending classes at the University of Miami.

Trevor, you’ve decided to leave school. Some people would argue that it’s important to have a well-rounded education to grow your business. Do you think you’re missing out?

Trevor Ownes: I think the base of that statement is true. However, I think college does nothing to prepare you to be an entrepreneur. I think entrepreneurial education happens outside the classroom—it’s done by actually doing it and getting the battle scars.

Tyler, do you disagree?

Tyler McIntyre: Education is a key aspect in understanding how the world works—understanding things that can broaden your horizons and discourage the narrow-mindedness of an entrepreneur. You’re able to understand so many opportunities outside by learning about different topics like consumer and organizational behavior, that you can see (a.) ways to improve and, (b.) new opportunities in a business. I agree that entrepreneurial education happens outside the school, but college, in addition to the education it gives you, also opens up a huge network of business contacts. The network that you build within a school is much more difficult to build when you’re not in school.

Click here for the full interview at Inc.

Photo from Steven Depolo

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