Tech startups and degrees: What does a degree signal?

Some quick thoughts about the character traits of startup founders.

There’s an attitude in tech startups that a college degree is unnecessary. Technically, they’re 100% correct since you don’t really need a degree to be successful financially. It’s why programs like Thiel Fellowships or startup accelerators like YCombinator can launch wildly successful people and careers with no degrees, circumventing the more standard route.

However…
1. It’s far easier to go about that if you already have wealthy parents or otherwise already well-off — this applies to many more than you think. It’s mostly a myth to be able to bootstrap from nothing if you’re from a low income family. Many of those who can take the shot at high growth startups are upper middle class since they don’t risk or suffer catastrophic consequences on setbacks tied to relatively tiny amounts of money.
2. There’s no better and higher probability route to get to a middle-class life than a college degree. Most people are far better suited to a comfortable life than taking a shot to become the wealthiest in the world.
3. There are benefits to being forced to expose yourself to ideas, situations, people for personal growth. The highest IQ and most curious people technically can do the same or more by their own volition, but that is not the actual situation for the vast majority of the situation.