(Update: By the above statement ‘but the key is they WENT to university’ I wanted to more quash the common defence I hear ‘but yeah the good entrepreneurs drop out’, unfortunately it has been understood by some as causation, moreso hey they went to uni maybe they got the same stuff I did out of it, thanks guys -Ben).

Well, I went to university … last year, as a consultant, and this year, as a guest lecturer. But apart from that … zilch.

Having said that, I hugely agree with your post. The education system has a lot more going for it than just pure information (the web’s for that!).

There’s also a case to be made for a gap year or something that gets you exposed to the real world. Winston Churchill didn’t go to university, then discovered reading when he was a soldier in Afghanistan. He learned by mail order, hungrily devouring textbooks his mother would send him. I can relate, as you’ve seen by my textbook collection (which I am going to read one day! :)

Granted as Nik says it gives you the cred to have got through 3-4 years of boredom but that time could have been spent proving things even better elsewhere….

Success as an entrepreneur is a whole other topic, of which you mention a few things I’d mention.

Many Uni and Non-Uni people have succeeded in business and with entrepreneurship, but the common denominators are attitude, focus and drive.

Look at your mate Branson, no Uni and about as immature as a 3yo but a lively driven character – and he succeeded.

Not only that, but look at all the BRANDS he used to do it, ie: Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Records, Virgin Flowers, Virgin Money and about 50 others:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Group

(That was a wee dig on the Branding 101 post)

It also gives you that buffer from being a know-it-all teenager to being an almost-know-it-all uni student to a there-is-so-much-to-learn adult.

@Sue Very very true, I would concur with Bob Jones.

The “Train Ticket”.

This bit of paper has helped open doors which I would otherwise have found deadlocked. The problem was I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Now, I wish I had slowed down a little more and taken advantage of points 3 and 4! Sure I started a business, which failed (good lessons learned though) and I travelled a little, but the extra time (26 weeks of holidays!) I had to apply myself without pressure to succeed could have been utilised in a more effective way.

The funny thing is I’m back at University now (Extramurally) and paying a lot more attention because you have to teach yourself, so maybe this time things will be different!

You can keep university interesting with side projects – the goofing around time :)

“There is some huge stat …” – Interested to read this, Citation Required? :P

(P.S “persay” is actually “per se”)