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    tyreedillardtyreedillard subscriber Posts: 1
    As far as being an Entrepreneur is concerned, an advanced degree is not, and I repeat, is not (bad English and all) required for success in business. High tech or other wise. Nor does not having one reduce your chance of being a success in business.I have met Harvard MBAs who can analyze a company with the best of them but can`t tell you what his customer really wants.The key to success with or without a degree is knowing your strengths and limitations. Choose a your role in the venture based on what you can do well and recruit team members who can do what you can`t do well.  
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    hugh009hugh009 subscriber Posts: 3
    Hi, Craig! That is EXACTLY what happened to me in grad school. Professor "Shotgun" Nugent Wedding, one of the foremost ad statistics experts, asked me a question in class the first day. VERY good at rote memory I began to fire back what HE had written in HIS textbook. He stopped me with these word: "Mr. Simpson, these words you are sharing with us seem vaguely familiar as I think I remember writing them some 20 years ago. I don`t care what I wrote about then. I want to KNOW what YOU THINK NOW!"  I then learned that from then on I needed to THINK for  myself! 
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    blondieblueblondieblue subscriber Posts: 9
    Actually, this part of the topic refers to the theory of concepts and how we manipulate those concepts in our mind. It relates to how we perceive a "set" of information. (yadda, yadda, yadda)
    What did he say????
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    RetiredMember4RetiredMember4 subscriber Posts: 1
    Formal education when it comes to medicine and surgery is a no-brainer,
    but I`ve always felt that you can`t teach "business". Sure, a college degree
    covering the basics of accounting, finance and business writing may
    better prepare you to understand the workings of the business world, but
    when it comes to successful entrepreneurial ventures, that degree is not a
    prerequisite. When your business idea is your baby, you are willing to
    take chances and play hunches that go beyond what is written in a text
    book. Unlike medical school where you have definitive analysis, i.e. "if
    these are the symptoms then these are the possible diseases", when you
    have a business idea, no amount of analysis can guarantee a definitive
    result of success or failure. When you graduate medical school, you are a
    doctor. When you graduate law school, you are a lawyer. When you
    graduate business school, does that make you a businessman/woman?
    If you don`t have a formal business education it may make it harder to
    understand business as you work your way up the success ladder but of
    course, by that time, you can hire someone to take care of the details
    right?startupattorney2007-5-21 19:55:51
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    tyreedillardtyreedillard subscriber Posts: 1
    I`m sorry to disappoint you but the "learn as you go" approach is the essence of being an entrepreneur, know matter what skill level you start with. Paul Getty said that "It is impossible to know everything before you start a business, that the key is to start small and grow with your business." This same approach was used by both Michael Dell and the founder of Subway.There is a big difference between being an executive and being an entrepreneur. The culture and mindset is different. Almost every venture capitalist will tell you that. They will also tell you that success as a CEO of a fortune 500 company is not a guarantee that you can be a successful startup entrepreneur/CEO.Most small businesses that fail do so for similar reasons....lack of formal education isn`t one of them. I will go one step further and say that many if not most of the small businesses started by highly educated entrepreneurs that fail, do so for the exact same reasons their under educated counterparts do.  Don`t get me wrong. I`m not knocking formal education. I am the first person to say that increasing your knowledge and skill levels  will increase the number of opportunities in which you can respond. But being an Entrepreneur isn`t rocket science or law for that matter.  
    tyreedillard2007-5-22 2:41:26
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    tyreedillardtyreedillard subscriber Posts: 1
    There is know rule that says the founding entrepreneur has to be CEO. Pierre Omidyar does not run Ebay, Michael Dell did not run Dell during it`s growth phase. Most of my friends are VC`s also, and in the past 20 years Ive met the founders of some great companies and some very highly educated business failures.Most of the small businesses started in this country will never need venture capital funding at any point in their business life. Those that do will follow the usual model of recruiting team members with the education and experience level at the seed/startup stage or during its growth phase.    
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    tyreedillardtyreedillard subscriber Posts: 1
    Im not disagreeing with you. I defer to the guys here at startup nation. Make sure your life plan matches the role you choose in your venture. If your life plan is to run a fortune 500 company or a hot new tech IPO, yeah you are more than likely going to need more than 12th grade shop under your belt. But not every entrepreneur has visions of being the next Steve Jobs
    tyreedillard2007-5-22 3:21:39
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    hugh009hugh009 subscriber Posts: 3
    Bill Gates - I rest my case!
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    hugh009hugh009 subscriber Posts: 3
    Truett Caffe of Chick-Fillet and Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried also come to mind
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    tyreedillardtyreedillard subscriber Posts: 1
    Paul Allen, equally brilliant, equally visionary and the genius behind windows and may I add the holder of an advanced degree. Paul since leaving microsoft has been the founder of some of techs  largest business failures from Asymetrix, to Starwave, and the wrecking of Charter Communications. My point is a man as brilliant as he is, with the startup experience and educational background that he has doesn`t have an advantage over the average kid at Starbucks.   
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    MNGrillGuyMNGrillGuy subscriber Posts: 2 Member
    BA, I must admit, the comment about Col. Sanders made me laugh out loud.  You`re gonna get me fired!  Too funny.
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    RetiredMember4RetiredMember4 subscriber Posts: 1
    Brand Alchemy,

    Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. However, my
    response was based on the question of the "necessity" of a formal
    business education to succeed as an entrepreneur. When i stated that
    when you graduate from med school, you are a doctor, or graduate from
    law school, you are a lawyer, I was referring to the barriers of entry to
    these professions. If you want to be a doctor or lawyer, you HAVE to go
    to school. Of course there are so many other variables that work together
    to determine your success in these professions but they are moot unless
    you have the education. As for business, there are no educational
    "musts". What I am saying is this, you can start with a great idea and
    nurse it to something amazing... by the time it is a huge success you can
    hire all the MBA`s and Havard grads you want to run your business. But
    who is ultimately the businessman in the picture? What is that guy`s
    name... the one who started ebay...startupattorney2007-5-22 15:47:34
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    patentandtrademarkpatentandtrademark subscriber Posts: 103
    here`s the argument:
    chance of success in bidness is 1 in 10 with degree.chance of success in bidness is 1 in 10,000 without degree.
    "well yeah but success in bidness does not REQUIRE  the degree." 
    OK.
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    patentandtrademarkpatentandtrademark subscriber Posts: 103
    true dat.  education increases the odds of success.  rarely, somebody can do without it.
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    daleyfla99daleyfla99 subscriber Posts: 1
    I don`t know about PT Barnum but John Ringling, his partner, had one helluva house in Sarasota, FL and has one of the most amazing art collections ever seen outside a major world center.  In the 1920s he was as rich as Rockerfeller and Vanderbilt.  I understand he lost it all in the stock market crash of 29....o, wait the college educated guys lost it all then too....oh, and in the crash of 2000.....
    Education and common sense can peacefully co exist. 
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