Are Good Entrepreneurs Bad Students?

Many students headed back to school last week. (Good luck to all upcoming graduates!) Thinking about the school system, I recently came across an old Tech Crunch article speaking on the role of higher education in entrepreneurship. Anecdotally, it seems a significant amount of successful entrepreneurs leave college to start their own business, and perhaps they aren't a great fit for school. Is there an inverse relationship between level of education and likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur?

I have to admit, 2018 is my first year out of school, and I’m having a hard time applying what I’ve learned in the classroom to real life. I think the problem is that I was a good student. 

For the past 17 years, I’ve been taught success is defined every semester by one letter grade. In the classroom, you’re expected to keep your head down, listen to your teachers, and do your work. You follow a pre-determined set of criteria for success. In this way, class performance becomes formulaic. Cater your work to a few projects your teacher has given. Rinse and repeat.

The real world doesn’t reward you for quite the same things. It rewards you for being outspoken and taking risks. Students who have grown up in traditional classrooms aren’t necessarily familiar with adversity and can be too afraid to try something for fear of failure. I was, and still am, one of those people. 

I find myself frustrated with stagnation because I realize where I am is far from where I want to be, and I haven’t figured out the path to get there yet. I think it’s pretty natural to be in this position – it’s in the foundation of physics.

Newton’s First Law states that “an object will remain at rest or in uniform motion… unless acted upon by an external force.” Going through the motions and continuing the status quo is the path of least resistance. It takes disruption outside your normal routine to change it. It requires a certain amount of attention and self-awareness to change course throughout your journey. If you don’t define your (work) life, someone will define it for you. And that’s okay too. Some people want work to be their passion, while others want work (any work that gets a paycheck) to support their passion. But it’s harder to do the former, because there are many things you have to do before you can position yourself to do the things you want.

I think our school system doesn’t successfully teach students the fundamentals of trial and error, and failing when it’s still safe to do so. I think we can do a better job of being strategic, and laying out actionable items towards long-term goals. But I don’t know what that looks like.

What do you think? How do we challenge today's students and aspiring entrepreneurs in a sustainable way? I'd love to hear your thoughts, or any entrepreneurial advice/experiences you'd like to share.