Meh. I dropped out for awhile, learned a lot, went back to college, learned some more. Dropping out should be a non-issue, something that just happens because you ran out of time. Making arguments for it just always struck me as apologetics.
If I had discovered HN and the lean startup methodology earlier in college I might have done the same. But he's very fortunate to have created such a popular service to be able to change his life direction like this so early.<p>In university, the faculty is very open with the fact that they are shoehorning us into software jobs at big oil and gas companies, which is why they don't provide resources and awards for students with innovative ideas. So it often does feel like my university experience isn't helping me achieve the goals that I want in life.
I have mixed feelings about this. I got terrible grades in college, and dropped out three times. The idea of ever going back makes me feel queasy. I hated it, and I wouldn't wish it upon anybody that feels like me.<p>Then again, nobody took me seriously before I graduated. I always had lots to offer, but no opportunities to offer it. Graduating gave me opportunities to meet people who could look past my grades and still see me as an intelligent, capable person. Those people ended up helping me to get my first "real" job...a job I got fired from for being "too technical", but nonetheless, a job which put an immense amount of experience on my resume in a short amount of time. In other words, college sucked ass, but it opened so many doors that I can't be too bitter about it.<p>I guess my true feelings on the matter are as follows: drop out, but make sure you are dropping out because you have an amazing opportunity...not because you don't like it.<p>Oh, and if you do drop out, never say to yourself "I don't care what anybody thinks of my decision". You do, and you are lying to yourself. You can't succeed anywhere without a decent subset of people trusting you. If you can earn their trust without a degree, awesome. If you can't, you either need to find a different subset of people, or you need to earn it the way that they expect.
He made a good point here in eliminating unnecessary risks (for him, dropping out of college) by retaining as much optionality for as long as he can, and at the same time working hard at his startup. As an entrepreneur there are lots of risks in running a startup, a lot of which are not within the founders' control (traction, market direction, etc). Managing risk is an important part of managing one's psychology as a founder.<p>Leo's story is one of humility and gratitude - I have always found them(the Buffer team) as an inspiration not just because of their startup's traction (which can be unpredictable) but more because of their character, endless seeking of improvement professionally and personally, and passion in giving back to the startup community.
(most ignoring the post and going off on a rant)<p>When I read the title, I see "Why I left a culture of strict rules and judgement to be happy and do whatever the heck I want."<p>It's kinda simple really. Why go to college when you can work for yourself, get hundreds of thousands (millions?) of dollars to play with, and not have to study, try, and stress out about getting The Right Answers all the time? Going your own way removes an entire level of judgement from your life. You get to cut ties with the voice constantly whispering "I may not be good enough." But -- then you may never know how good you can be. It'll take you longer to figure out you don't know what you don't know.<p>It almost feels like "Why I stopped training 8 hours a day to qualify for the Olympics and instead decided to become a fisherman in Hawaii." (Sorry, my analogy machine is on the fritz.)<p>Be happy, do good work, but not everything in the world can be a my-first-crud-app (though, we haven't found a limit to my-first-crud-app success yet -- there are still tens of thousands more that can be made and generate significant income for the owners). The most impressive things to come will take comprehension obtained through learning, pain, failure, growth, then finally, one day, understanding. If too many clever people abandon the pain of learning for the joy of quickish superficial success we won't be advancing the world very quickly.<p>Life is pain, highness.