INFOGRAPHIC : Education Vs.Experience In The Startup Community

When it comes to starting up a tech company, what matters more to investors?  A degree from an actual university or a degree from the University of Life?  The popular myth is that you can build a huge Internet empire from your parents garage after school in the evenings and by the time you’re in your teens, you’re ready to match Mark Zuckerberg’s bank balance.  But as the infographic below shows, the majority of Internet company founders actually went to university first and got professional qualifications.

I know, not quite so romantic is it? But ironically, investors seem to favour the opposite. They seem to like company founders who have relied more on life experience rather than life at university.  But again, as the infographic illustrates, there are some successful Internet moguls who went down the higher qualification route and did extremely well such as Sergey Brin and Jerry Yang.  So a university degree doesn’t seem to be a hindrance if you want to make it big online.  You just need to work hard and have a lot of luck.

If you were an Internet investor looking to put your cash in the Next Big Thing, would you want to see some evidence of a university degree?  Or does the University Of Life carry more weight?  Are you planning to start your own online company soon?  If so, are you getting further education first or will you be relying on the world to give you all the skills that you will need?

Click on the infographic for a larger version