Did your college major help your startup at all?

[PixelRocket]

I'm always interested in who actually used what they learned from college when starting a company, or if they thought it was useful at all. I think there's a great argument for both sides, but I am interested in the responses from this forum.

Thanks!

[Fulcrum]

Currently, not at all. Down the road possibly as I look to building some custom machinery. I took robotics and automation processes, but all my equipment currently is manual.

[Brian Altenhofel]

Not at all, though I'm probably not a good specimen since I quit college after a semester. I can't point at a person I know personally in my field whose field-related college major has actually helped them. Of course, this is a fast-moving field, and one of the reasons I quit college was because the curriculum was 4-5 years behind what was then-current technology and best practices.

I also know very few successful business people with business degrees. Many of the "rules" taught in business courses don't apply that well in the real-world; the rules are written around idealized scenarios. The foundation of success - the ability to identify what you don't know - is not something that can be taught.

However, I'm the type that learns best on their own, and I actively seek out the resources I need. That sort of personality doesn't do well in a structured-learning environment.

[Harold Mansfield]

Nope. Not one bit. I also didn't take many business classes either.
I was resigned to the fact that I'd be a worker looking for a good job just like everyone else. So I took courses designed to teach me how to be an employee...like most college courses.

[David Hunter]

No college degree here, and I'm proud of it!

[billbenson]

I think college at 18 is a learning process and a maturing process. Military could be as well. The best thing I got from college is learning how to learn. I have an engineering degree but never really worked as an engineer. It did get me my first job though. I'm a career sales guy but it helped me to sell technical stuff.

Knowledge is knowledge. You can get that on your own, through formal education, whatever. And some people do need the structure of a formal education just like some people need the structure of a job and most of us here can work on our own.

So is it necessary - no depending on the person. Is there anything wrong with it (except for the cost), no.

[Wozcreative]

My college major was corporate branding.. so yes it has , however I needed about 4 - 5 years of work experience after 3 years of college to start a business.

[Paul]

Anything you learn is beneficial even if it’s not directly related to your business. Sometimes you may not even realize the knowledge you use in your business. Basic economics, math and business law courses may not make you an expert BUT they give you a base of knowledge that’s relevant to almost any business.
History and literature may not be as relevant but still can be useful.

The problem for some people with a formal business education is sometimes it can “box in your” brain when it comes to entrepreneurship. Sometimes they can’t grasp the concept of a business unless it fits into a business model they learned in school. They learn how to administer business functions but are clueless on how to develop a business.

Entrepreneurs and business owners have to deal with the reality of every aspect of their business. They have to be creative, motivated and a bit of a rebel. Employees only have to deal with their jobs particular responsibilities. That’s why highly educated people often end up working for less educated business owners.

Part of the plot in the old Rodney Dangerfield comedy “Back to School” was about the conflict between the college professor and his business “theories” and the successful business person’s “realities’. It was funny, but had some truth to it.

[Harold Mansfield]

Back in [my first] college I was a horrible student. It's not that I couldn't do the work, it was just hard to know what the work was when you never went to class. Turns out college is not a vacation. Who knew?

Anyway...one of the few times that I did go to class..some English class, the instructor knew that I was never there (Friday, 8 a.m.) and decided to test me by asking me a question about the reading that I was supposed to do.

I, of course didn't read it and tried to bs my way through it. He looked at me, told me to close my book and look at the cover. He was the author.
If college taught me nothing else, that one day, on a Friday with a hangover, I learned not to open my mouth unless I knew what I was talking about.

That one lesson has helped me my entire life. And it only cost me $20,000.

I did give college another shot and did end up graduating, but I've never been a sound engineer nor have I ever produced, directed or edited any film or video.
But learning those skills before there was even an internet as we know it now, does help me with web development today.
However, none were more important than that first lesson.

My point?

You can't teach drive, determination, sheer will, and hard work. I work hard at it because I never want to be caught talking and not knowing what I'm talking about. And when you know what you're talking about, people will pay you for it.

So I guess college did help me in a way.

[Freelancier]

First of all, anyone can start a company, you don't need a degree for that. However, most companies fail in the first five years, so what's your fallback plan? Usually, it's working for someone else for a while until you have the cash to try again. So if you go to interview for a job and you're up against others who have a degree, you're suddenly at a disadvantage. Unless you have a lot more work experience and references. But if you're asking about college, that means you likely don't have much experience at all. So you're starting out making a decision that might disadvantage you.

Did my degrees help me? Sure. I learned a lot of interesting tech things with my first degree way back when, and then I went back 15 years after that and got an MBA to help me learn the business side of things. Of course, the learning never stops if you want to stay ahead of the competition. And some people are just terrible at school and have their own way of learning, but it still counts for something if you can sit in classrooms for 4+ years and come out with a good GPA and some working knowledge of the field you want to work in.

Is it expensive? It certainly can be. In fact, right now you could say that we're in an "education pricing bubble". That just means you have to wisely choose the school and the curriculum you will study to maximize your value.