We're childhood friends who scaled our startup to $13M by age 21. Dropping out of college was the right move — if anything, we did it too late.

Tech Insider : Business, Environment
Two smiling people stand together on a patio in front of large windows and outdoor seating.
Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan dropped out of college to go full-time on their AI startup.

Courtesy of Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan

I moved across the world to get into the Ivy League. Then I quit Brown after a year to launch a VC firm at 21.

Tech Insider : Business, Technology
Smaiyl Makyshov
Smaiyl Makyshov said his firm focuses on community-based investing.

Smaiyl Makyshov

I founded an AI startup while still in high school. I'm now 22 and have raised over $2M — I have no regrets about skipping college.

Tech Insider : Business, Environment, Technology
headshot of a man in front of a gray background
Ishraq Khan.

Courtesy of Ishraq Khan

How Y Combinator founders are pitching the AI boom

Tech Insider : Business
Garry Tan is a top seed investor.
Garry Tan is a top seed investor.

Courtesy

Y Combinator founders seized the AI boom in 2025, with increasingly younger teams securing millions in seed funding.

Forget college: Palantir wants to hire you right after high school.

Tech Insider : Business
Alex Karp
Palantir CEO Alex Karp

Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

I quit college at 21 to run my AI company. Sacrifices like working up to 80-hour weeks while I had cancer were worth it.

Tech Insider : Business
David Kobrosky
David Kobrosky dropped out of his studies at the University of Michigan to start Intros AI.

Courtesy of Sam Goldin

I'm a 2-time college dropout and I followed this unusual career advice to land my dream job working in a national park

Tech Insider
Woman outdoors
Yosemite National Park is among the places Megan Wright has worked after she decided to leave college and follow her dreams.

Megan Wright

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