Yes, they are the individuals with extraordinary passion, yes they killed their SATs and LSATs, yes they wore crimson red and yes they are Harvard dropouts!
This is a list of top ten individuals who made it to Harvard and yet opted to drop out and made it BIG in this B-world! In words of someone on the list, ”During sophomore year I realized that I wanted to commit to my passion for real and getting a Magna Cum Laude was not my top priority, back then”.
Mark Zuckerberg
This teenage prodigy and computer wizard and Times magazine’s person of the year made up his mind about taking off the crimson sweater in his sophomore year to give his full dedication to then just “Harvard thing” and the rest is history.
This Harvard dropout now comes seventh in the list of the richest people around the globe. This genius Yankee is now showing his philanthropic side by joining the Giving Pledge campaign. Whatever the Winklevoss brother and the movie may say but Mark showed extraordinary entrepreneur skills along with his tech wizardry to build a multibillion dollar corporation, Facebook Inc.
Bill Gates
The wealthiest person on this planet and the co-founder of Microsoft, William Henry “Bill” Gates is one of the most successful Harvard alumni. This computer genius and person solely responsible for the Microsoft’s product strategy also dropped out of Harvard in his sophomore year and in plain words ’hit a homerun’. Of course the reason behind his success is his immense diligence and dedication towards his company and his “peculiar” or “never seen” managerial skills. Yes he was the best, or, as they say so! His entrepreneur skills are even taught in B-schools and his endeavor serves as motivation for millions of ambitious entrepreneurs around the world.
Alexa Von Tobel
The only lady on this list of top ten and the founder of LearnVest.com, a personal finance website , Alexa Von Tobel is more than just a pretty face with net worth amounting just north of $100 million . She enrolled herself in Harvard Business School in 2008 but just after a year she decided to launch LearnVest.com, a Tech crunch 50 2009 company.
You got to say that dropping out of the most prestigious B-school in the world takes courage and she showed that she definitely had it to make it BIG. Now a symbol for women power and the major shareholder of one of the most valued start-ups , Van Tobel also published ‘Financially Fearless’ , a New York time best seller. Known for her amazing managerial skills and financial solution, Van Tobel is undoubtedly one name to watch out for in B-world.
Dustin Moskovitz
The worlds’ youngest self-made billionaire and the cofounder of the social networking site Facebook, Dustin Moskovitz dropped out of Harvard after studying economics for 2 years to be the first chief technology officer and vice president of engineering of Facebook.
In 2008 he decided to leave Facebook to find a new company Asana along with a former colleague. Over the years he has extended growth of his company which is worth $9.9 billion by making excellent business choices.
He didn’t just settle with Facebook but went on to start-ups of his own like Asana and living his dream-run of successful companies.
Also Read: The dorm room entrepreneurs
Gabe Newell
This Seattle born former Microsoft employee, along with a colleague from Microsoft set out to found Valve Corporation in 1996. In retrospect Gabe decided to drop out of Harvard in his final year to work with Bill Gates in his company Microsoft and was the face behind first three versions of windows.
Gabe has shown transformation from an employee at a multi-billion dollar company to the founder of a 3 billion dollar corporation.
It seems like when you are associated with a company as big as Microsoft you seem to pick a thing or two about entrepreneurship. But what is really awesome about this 53 year old guy is despite $1.5 billion worth; his enthusiasm for new projects can even make a 22 year old shy.
Edwin H. Land
The person responsible for in a minute photography, and the co-founder of Polaroid Corporation, Edwin H. Land dropped out of Harvard’s chemistry class after his freshman year. He left Harvard for New York City where he invented the first affordable filters, capable of polarizing light. A pioneer in photography and a man of his own, he used to sneak in the Columbia University’s laboratory at night to use their equipment.
He was against heavy marketing strategies and looked upon it as a masquerade for not so par product manufacturing. He was a living example of innovation and entrepreneurship. He received numerous awards in his lifetime and is often remembered as inventor rather than a start-up icon, yet his hardworking and advocacy of genuineness of product is something that should be learned from his successful endeavor throughout his life.
Bruce Henderson
Mechanical engineer turned entrepreneur, Bruce Henderson, was the founder of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and vice president of Westinghouse Corporation and Arthur D. Little. This Harvard Business School alumnus dropped out of this ivy-league B-school only ninety days prior to his graduation to try his managerial skills at Westinghouse Corp. where he became the youngest vice-president in the company’s history.
His excellent entrepreneur prowess became evident at his company BCG. He poured all of his experience in this start-up, which currently amounts to about $4.5 billion in revenue. His B-career serves us with the lesson of not hurrying into a start-up and waiting long enough for understanding the pros and cons of the business and the entrepreneurship we are about to set foot in.
James L. Halperin
This renowned author and businessman attended Harvard to pursue a career in numismatics only to drop out after three semesters. Later he established a rare coin fund for investors; New England Rare Coin Fund (NERCF), which he decided to liquidate and enter in other partnership. Surely, James was more inclined towards learning numismatics in business field, rather than in closed classrooms and one would say, it served his start up and him pretty well.
Also Read: Undergraduate students- Why should you intern at a startup?
Buckminister Fuller
Who said you have to be the ‘nice’ guy to make it BIG in your life. Meet this guy, Buckminister “Bucky” Fuller, the individual on this list, who was expelled from Harvard, not once, but twice. But later he made up for this fact by holding 28 patents and 47 honorary degrees. He also founded Geodesic domes. He also co-founded the architectural firm, Fuller & SADA Inc. Renowned mainly for his inventor role, he was also a remarkable entrepreneur and showed if you have the skills then things do turn around your way.
William Randolph Hearst
The most influential figure in American Journalism and the creator of the largest newspaper chain in his nation, Hearst had to take off his crimson sweater i.e. drop out of Harvard when he was expelled from the class of 1835 for throwing massive bear parties and pulling pranks on his professors.
He then decided to turn things around by taking over a newspaper business, the San Francisco Examiner. Whatever may be the self-interest behind the news that was published, but Hearst’s demonstrated extra ordinary managerial skills and his paper business was an absolute success.But he didn’t settle just yet as he went on to materialise his vision of a large newspaper chain.
One thing young entrepreneurs must learn from Hearst is that never settle or ‘rest’ after your initial land marks. Don’t hang your boots up just after an initial turmoil. Stick around and strive for as much excellence as you can muster. You never know how big you can make of your own start-up!
Whether it was earning loads of money or creating a huge business empire, these people did achieve their passion to say the least. They broke the conventional trend and denied their academic short comings to come in their way of success.
Now they are idolized, many look up to them as motivational figures and their entrepreneur skills are often cited as examples in various B-schools around the globe, including their dear old Harvard, and all of these triumphs have given birth to the famous notion of CREATING A JOB IS BETTER THAN FINDING A JOB!
