Ask HN: Grad-school or Startup?

[ameen]

Non American confused about either applying to a mediocre grad school for CS (would help with work auth) – my undergrad was a disaster and almost put me off programming until I started working on projects of my own, CS106A by Mehran Sahami & my discovery of Ruby

I would've loved to be at Stanford or any top CS school as I feel sound CS skills actually do translate positively to the industry when working on a high-level system but thanks to my low undergrad GPA I don't even qualify for most of them. Alternatively MOOCs could help in understanding various concepts if I go through with the startup route

OTOH I've been mulling over establishing my own startup. I've freelanced a bit, worked for a company and found that I loved product ownership and simply couldn't stop charting out various courses, features, marketing strategies, etc for the product, and refining them through various iterations, etc esp. Edtech w/ regards to Software Industry[1]

Also I'd have to establish the startup in India which brings various challenges which lower my probability to build a world-class product[2]

Ideally I'd finish my graduate course & work at a decent-sized company/startup, pick up valuable insights and later work on my startup

[1]College education (esp in India) is broken – it doesn't offer a lot more than just a bunch of textbooks to learn from. It's still exam-based, not many co-op programs, no insistence to develop other related skills, an outdated & irrelevant syllabus to the industry, unmotivated & egotistic professors (one of whom failed me for questioning the spiel around OOP), etc

[2]Specific to me, not that Indian startups don't build WC products eg HackerRank. Pedigrees in the industry are based on the founding team which expect an IIT/M founder – this directly affects hiring, Investor interest, Press, etc and the product itself takes a backseat

PS I love conversing with fellow startup folks, hit me up if you think you've got something to share

[johan_larson]

If your undergrad was a disaster, you are not going to get into any grad school worth your time. And it's going to hurt you in trying to get a startup off the ground too, since investors are looking for an accomplished team.

Sounds to me like you need to build some credibility. You need something you can point to that you have done well.

To be honest, I think your best bet is to take an ordinary job, and do good work. Try to find an employer that people know and respect. About five years of this, including a promotion or two, is going to go a long way to making you a credible practitioner, ready for whatever you have in mind after.

[ameen → johan_larson]

I guess so. Problem is we have a deluge if service companies and very few product companies that actually do good work (originality, technically, etc).

I guess I do need to improve my credibility, but I have shipped apps with several thousands of paying customers and supported it 24x7.

I guess I'll probably get a decent job or just go ahead and bootstrap my idea. The allure of SV seemed too strong until I realized that ship has sailed. Everybody who isn't at a top startup are bailing due to CoL issues.

Thanks for your input btw.