You can do it on your evenings and weekends. I realize people think I’m being elitist, but that was the point of my post - way more people could do it than think they can.
And failure is not the huge disaster in startups that people think. Even successful entrepreneurs have failures. Also, even running a failed startup elevates you to management if you go work at a big company.
Here’s a secret I wish someone had told me:
Start a company. It’s really not that hard, and even if you fail, you will be seen as more valuable than you were before you started the company.
Come up with a good idea. There are a million of them.
Read books on startups.
Learn to pitch investors. Investors actually want ideas from young people because they know that sometimes they have a better idea of the zeitgeist. They also will help you because they were once young and want to pass on the help. Really.
Build your company.
Again, you may fail, but even if you do you will now be the CEO/founder of a company, which is worth way more than an average grad. You will learn a ton in the process and make a lot of useful connections.
Seriously - best career advice out there.
Should be a counterpart for women as well.
My point is that rich kids get funded partly because they are rich and have connections, but also because people tell them they can do it.
Almost all investors will accept emails with pitches. You can build a pitch on nights and weekends while holding down a full time job.
I am just trying to encourage people to realize it’s more possible than they think because I wish people had told me that.