I recommend business school for those who can afford it, but graduating with significant debt can limit future opportunities and lead to poor life choices.

I knew that if I could make my debt payments and cover my living expenses, I could afford to experiment with different business ideas until I found success.

After graduating, I focused entirely on my startup but struggled to achieve profitability, which taught me the importance of having paying customers.

My frustration with the lack of access to capital led me to business school, where I aimed to democratize funding and eventually co-founded Indiegogo.

My journey started as a child of two small business owners who struggled for 30 years without access to capital, which made me aware of the significant problem of access to funding.

Business schools tend to be expensive and often fail to teach essential startup rules that students need to know.

In college, I became heavily involved in the newspaper, which led to my expulsion due to neglecting my classes, but I later graduated and found that experience valuable in my entrepreneurial journey.

When we first opened Starbucks, we were focused on no debt because of my childhood experiences with financial struggles.

I was very intentional about my choices and believe there are trade-offs in both paths of education and entrepreneurship; both can lead to valuable experiences.