(2011-12-07) Ellsberg Millionaires Dropouts And Deschooling

Michael Ellsberg just released his book The Education Of Millionaires ISBN:1591844207 (focusing on millionaires who don't have a College Education)

Here is the intro. There are, of course, many wonderful things you can learn in college, which have absolutely nothing to do with career and financial success. You can expand your mind, sharpen your critical thinking skills, get exposed to new ideas and perspectives, revel in the intellectual and cultural legacy of the world’s greatest thinkers. These are all worthy pursuits. But the idea that simply focusing on these kinds of things, and getting a BA attesting to the fact that you have done them, guarantees you will be successful in life is going the way of company pensions, job security, and careers consisting of a single employer for forty years... The driving theme of the stories in this book is that, even though you may learn many wonderful things in college, your success and happiness in life will have little to do with what you study there or the letters after your name once you graduate. It has to do with your drive, your initiative, your persistence, your ability to make a contribution to other people’s lives, your ability to come up with good ideas and pitch them to others effectively, your charisma, your ability to navigate gracefully through social and business networks (what some researchers call “practical intelligence”), and a total, unwavering belief in your own eventual triumph, throughout all the ups and downs, no matter what the naysayers tell you.

• Here are the skills his book covers: *
  • Success Skill #1: How to Make Your Work Meaningful and Your Meaning Work (Or, How to Make a Difference in the World, Without Going Broke)
  • Success Skill #2: How to Find Great Mentors and Teachers, Connect with Powerful and Influential People, and Build a World-Class Network
  • Success Skill #3: What Every Successful Person Needs to Know About Marketing, and How to Teach Yourself
  • Success Skill #4: What Every Successful Person Needs to Know About Sales (Selling), and How to Teach Yourself
  • Success Skill #5: How to Invest for Success (The Art of BootStrapping)
  • Success Skill #6: Build the Brand of You (Brand You) (or, To Hell with Résumés!)
  • Success Skill #7: The Entrepreneurial MindSet—Take Your Success into Your Own Hands*
• He notes that he is intentionally focusing here on skills related to success in the realms of career, money, work, and business.

He did a conference call conversation with Dale Stephens of Un College on DeSchooling your mind.

He wrote an op-ed on "Will Drop Out-s Save America?" If Start Up activity is the true engine of Job Creation in America, one thing is clear: our current educational system is acting as the brakes.

He had a blog at Forbes.

Timothy Ferriss wrote about him a couple months back.

Andrew Warner interviewed him.

Casey Payne wrote a related piece on "4 reasons you should wait to go to college after High School" which he later linked to Michael.

Jan25'2012: rough Video of Ellsberg speaking at party hosted by Peter Thiel, intro by Thiel and Sean Parker. "There are lots of careers, like being a doctor or research scientist or other traditional Professional, where schooling is necessary. But to be an Entrepreneur is not one of them. College is also a bad idea if you don't know what you want to do yet."