11 College Dropout Billionaires

September 27, 2011 by David Crandall | 9 Comments

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Waiting for permission?

Feeling held back because you lack in the “education” part of your resume?

Think that success is out of your reach?

Are you waiting for permission to be successful?

College Dropout Billionaires

We live in a culture where people “wait for permission. Permission to do what they love. Permission to do what they love. Permission to let their ideas and vision have a place in the world. They wait for someone to manage them and their dreams instead of taking responsibility for their own lives. They complain instead of solve and wait for a list of tasks they can check off and say ‘Done’.” (Click to see the original post for this quote.)

Education isn’t bad, but too many people use it as an excuse. This presentation lists 11 people who chose to be different. The didn’t wait for permission, they went out and made their own fortune.

Feel free to view the presentation above in the SlideShare version or download it with the link below.

Enjoy!

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http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1083055846 Mauro Pennacchia

This is a very interesting presentation and the quotes of these 11 definitely give a glimpse to how they made their marks, but for every dropout who turned themselves into a millionaire, how many did not? I believe the HS dropout rate is 9% while college is 25%. What differentiates these 11 from everyone else? Did their parents have money? Connections? Was it truly passion and perseverance? A touch of luck, sure. Regardless they are without a doubt the exception to the rule,. These 11 have led phenomenal lives and taken huge risks to get where they are. Can most dropouts do the same?

I fully appreciate the need to persevere, to have a drive and a passion and the guts to follow it. But by and large a diploma and/or degree, can be a life preserver everyone else needs. There is an overabundance of failure in our country compared to these successes, and the gap is growing exponentially. We need to support education and bridge it with business and entrepreneurs so they get both sides of life.

http://www.heroicdestiny.com David Crandall

I agree that the dropout rate is alarming when you see the numbers regarding high school. The college rate doesn’t freak me out as much since I’m a 6 figure college dropout. LOL

BUT…I did make a point to say that education is not bad, nor was that the point of the presentation. The point is actually to not let obstacles stand in your path. I believe education is something we should pursue our entire lives. Whether that is in the halls of a university or not, I am not as emotionally tied to.

Thanks for the comment though! Love hearing these questions and points!!!!

Anonymous

Wow. That’s one powerful presentation, David.

And it’s one I really needed to see this week. Thank you

http://www.heroicdestiny.com David Crandall

So glad you liked it, fellow unicorn fanatic. Even more pleased that it met you where you were at this week.

http://www.letsradiate.com Michelle

Awesome presentation David!! Loved it. I would have to disagree with Mauro – I’m a college dropout, and most of my friends who went in for four year degrees are graduating now. To what? A horrible economy with the worst job market in a long time, with an education that did NOT prepare them for surviving in that economy, and tens of thousands of dollars in debt – at the very least. I think our society’s obsession with higher education and the pressure that we put on people to go to college is irresponsible, and that both the public schooling system and most of the higher education system need to be revamped in a dire way. IMO, being willing to learn for yourself, think on your feet, be bold, and persevere are qualities that make a much better life preserver than an overpriced piece of paper.

http://www.heroicdestiny.com David Crandall

I tend to agree more with you, but I think college has its place. For certain disciplines, I still want a college educated professional; for example, I never want brain surgery performed from a self taught entrepreneur…no matter how driven.

I also view college as a great destination for people who DON’T know what they want to do. For the individual who knows they need to keep progressing in life but aren’t really equipped to know how to do that, college can be a great learning ground to get your feet wet as an adult.

For others, college is a BAD decision. For people who are just targeting a degree to get a job, I fear for them. I work with numerous people in jobs they hate making less than half of what I make…and they have tens of thousands of dollars in school loans.

I think the internet has polarized these decisions. Once upon a time a college degree and generalized knowledge was useful. Now, not as much as it used to be. Now, experts are the ones making money…but experts are NOT what colleges are creating. In order to be an expert, you have to get a degree, a master, a PhD, etc…and even then you may or may NOT end up with an expert.

Ok…climbing down off of my soapbox. LOL!!!

Love your response AND Mauro’s. I was hoping that this presentation would make people stop and think instead of just moving on to the next shiny thing.

Looks like I’m getting my wish.
http://www.letsradiate.com Michelle

Oh yeah, I definitely agree with you about for example, brain surgeons. I just think that:

-college isn’t the one-size-fits-all solution that it’s pushed on us (us being the younger generation) as being*
-even for the professions that DO need college, I still think the higher education system needs revamped entirely

*EVERY time that my husband talks to his parents, even if he doesn’t bring up anything having to do with employment or money or anything, they tell him to go to college. They didn’t go to college and have done fine (in fact, actually, his dad runs his own business), but it’s the be-all, end-all solution for Matt, apparently. Just yesterday his dad told him “Yeah, okay, so getting a college degree might only get you a 1 in 500 chance at a good job, but without that degree you have no chance at all!” Those odds are ridiculous. Expecting – actively telling – someone to go tens of thousands of dollars in debt for a 1 in 500 chance is ridiculous. I’m not going to play that game. I’d rather make my own rules.

I’m also not sure that I think college is a good place for those who are unsure about what they want to do. Yeah, you can get your feet wet, but is that worth the high cost? If you don’t know what you want to do & you’re indecisive about majors, you can easily end up with $50,000+ in debt and not even have a degree yet. (Or leave with a bachelor’s, which doesn’t get you jack any more if you’re relying on your degree to get you a “good job” – what you mentioned about the inflation of the degrees. I should do the math – someone probably has already, actually – on how long it would take someone with the average income that a bachelor’s degree gets you to pay off $50,000 in student loans.)

Don’t get me wrong, I like learning. I LOVE learning. I’ve been a voracious reader since four or five years old. I just don’t know that our current system is set up to serve education and learning.

Have you watched any of Ken Robinson’s TED talks? I bet you’d like them! He touches on education in several and I think higher education in at least one or two.

There’s also this which is pretty interesting: http://www.uncollege.org/

LOL. Obviously I have strong opinions. I think we agree on most points here…I just like to talk. *gets off soapbox*

http://thedanielrichard.com Daniel Richard

Sharing this on my FB.
http://www.theuniuni.com/ Payton_vege

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