Over my Chinese New year gatherings, I was asked if there were more successful startups that had founders who went to elite schools.
Weird.
Who thinks like that nowadays?
Being in the startup space, I have been asked a fair share of questions regarding what leads to startup successes and failures.
Quality of team, the problem they are trying to solve, their go-to-market strategy and product-market fit are some of the key factors undoubtedly.
But the education of the founders is an interesting one I must say.
Is there a direct correlation between the founders who went to elite schools vs startup success?
I genuinely don’t know.
Fascinating point of contention though.
The social stigma of elite vs non-elite schools is perpetual and will take some time to simmer.
Elite schools have great pedigree.
The kind of kids that attend typically comes from a better background.
And I don’t mean just financially, but also in terms of heritage and who their parents are.
Elite schools being better funded, would naturally have better quality of teachers, facilities and equipment.
They should, if not why are people paying so much for their kids to study there?
So why do we still hold elite schools in high regards?
For employers, do you feel that potential candidates you are hiring will have a better chance at performing if they went to elite schools?
I would argue that for certain profession, like lawyers, bankers and management consultants, where you went to school matters a lot.
“The MBB consulting firms — McKinsey, Bain, and BCG — are major recruiters of MBA grads”.
But for the majority of other work, school doesn’t seem to prepare you a lot for it.
So will attending an elite school maketh a better founder?
Possibly.
It might increase the chance of you finding other highly intelligent, highly motivated individuals who can work well with you on a startup.
It might create a conducive environment for you to learn quickly and build a strong foundation for quintessential skills you need to be successful later in life.
But then the question really is more of you vs environment.
There are probably so many other factors to consider.
There probably isn’t a direct effect, but could it be a good predictor of future success?
I haven’t quite wrapped my head around this issue yet.
What do you think?
Do you think attending an elite school is a good predictor of startup success?
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