The Dropout Dilemma: Is Leaving School the Key to Success?

Hello and welcome to the show. Today we're going to be looking at the more interesting statistics about entrepreneurship that people don't talk about online and also kind of like the on sexy side of entrepreneurship. Now I know this is not something that is directly sales and business development related. You know, Aspire is not teaching you how you're supposed to validate your business, validate your business idea, promote your business, those sorts of things.

But I think it's something that is timely because I've seen some stuff about that on LinkedIn. And then apart from that, you know, from that generation where my older cousins are already crossing 50, the oldest in our family that's in my own set is already 5556. So, you know, there are a bunch of us who are thinking or more, it's almost like half mark now, you know how far you know those sorts of things. So yeah, these sorts of things come back every now and then.

So I'm going to be sharing some statistics that I got from LinkedIn posts. I haven't verified these figures, so I'm going to leave that up to you. I'll put the figures out there, but I want to let you know the source of the figures so that you can go and check, especially those for those of you who have LinkedIn accounts. I'll give you the people's names, but before we head into it, the interesting statistics. Sorry about that.

I hope my English teacher is not listening to this episode. Yeah, the geek list, the nerd list for today. So today on the playlist, I'm listening to Scarface. The Scarface is a southern. When I say southern, I mean Southern America. I don't mean southern like Niger. So he's a southern thug rapper. He's considered like a pioneer in the in the rap game in the South, but he never achieved mainstream success. But you know, for those of us who are kind of hip hop heads,

you know, he's like a a bow, He's like a sugar bar. He's like a big boss, you know, kind of that that we listen to. So we pay attention to what Scarface is saying. There's no Scarface was not on MTV, not on Sound City, not on any of those radio stations. So Scarface is a 90s, nineteen, 1990s guy and put it that way. So when some of us were teenagers, this was some of the stuff that we will listen to that he's done impressive collaborations with, you know,

all kinds of people. Snoop Dogg has appeared on some of his songs. Let's see who else. But he's not commercial success, not mainstream success. So if all you do is you listen to popular hip hop on Niger radio, then yeah, you definitely have never heard of Scarface before. But it's something worth listening to, especially for you young bloods. You know, it's nice to know just explosion and see that there's stuff before mumble rap, you know, So if you consider yourself a hip hop head, you should be listening to stuff like Scarface considering consider the the history of the art, you know, see what has come before.

It'll give you a greater appreciation for the development of the game. You know how people change the flow, how you switch up the flow and it gives you a greater appreciation for where hip hop is today and where hip hop has come from. So if you're somebody out there and you're considered, well, my wife considers me a geek. So if your boys consider you a geek because you listen to this kind of stuff, then please, by all means, let's geek up.

Let's nerd up, Let's listen to our stuff. Oh, and by the way, girls, babes, you're also invited as well because there are also fellow girls out there, hip hop heads who geek out about these sorts of things. So if you haven't given Scarface listen Scarface on Spotify, just hook it up and enjoy. But some of his lyrics are he doesn't use the F word a lot, but some of his lyrics are, you know, heavy, socially conscious heavy stuff basically.

So if you're going to be blasting it, just be mindful who you blasted around. So if you're maybe Popsy is in the house, don't over blast. You know, you may ask, why are you listening to angry music? You know, there's no good for your motivation, blah, blah, blah. Ladies should not listen to this kind of music. All those sorts of things. So wait when Popsy leaves the house or you know, just put on your headphones and enjoy some good hip hop from the 1990s.

So like I said, he used to be in the bands before, should I say band? I'll be rap group called Ghetto Boys. But if you're spelling ghetto, don't put the H and then only put one T. So it's ghetto GETO Ghetto boys. That's how they spell this. So Scarface Ghetto boys enjoy then On Netflix currently don't have anything on the list at the moment, although I'm considering watching a platform Part 2. I watched the Part 1 and my wife was like, why are you watching all this rubbish now?

See, people are stabbing themselves, they're cutting their heads, cannibalism, eating human flesh, three people down the pits. Like what kind of rubbish is this? This movie is pointless, blah, blah, blah. You know, So yeah, we had that kind of conversation because as far as my wife is concerned, well, I believe that there's some things that you should not be watching that if you watch some kind of things at homes, you know, you open the the portal to your house and you open the room for demons that are coming into your home.

And, you know, sometimes I tell her like, you be be coming down. It's not, it's not that spiritual. It's just it's just gore. It's not as if anything that, you know, a demon is not going to enter into our living room because of this. So it's platform Part 1. Part 2 is that I don't know, Part 2 is going to be about platform. Part 1 was kind of like dystopian is the future. There's a kind of prison and people move up or down certain levels depending on whether on how much you decide to share for the people behind you.

It's it's like a six social experiment, I must admit. But basically it tests how, what's the word, how selfish or selfless people are willing to be. So in other words, if the platform comes down and you take small food and you leave for other people to eat, then all of you will continue to eat. But if the platform comes and you rush all the food now, then you might not have a chance to eat food tomorrow. So it's one of those sick experiments.

So it raises a number of important questions. You know, how broken are human beings? How helpful are human beings? How selfish are human beings? How self interested or how selfless can human beings be? If you're going to want this from a Christian angle, you know, there's that whole the theological questions of from original sin and the fall of man, you know, are we errant, inherently sinful? What is it that we need to help us to move us to a higher point of grace?

You know, those sorts of things, you know, can we achieve goodness by our own ends? So these are the kind of higher questions that I raised by the movie Platform. And so that's why I'm looking forward to watching Platform Part 2. But if you're married to a woman who believes, like my wife does, that depending on what you watch on TV, you can invite demons into your home, then please do not watch platform, or at least don't watch it when she's in the house or the other way around.

If you're a woman and you're married to a man who believes that demons can enter through your home through through the TV, then don't watch it when your husband is around or don't watch it or maybe just sneak into the car, then watch it in the car. So if the demons come out, the demons will get trapped into the car and the demons will get trapped into the house. Oh, by the way, I am not advocating for demon worship in any way.

I'm just saying that this is an interesting movie. I enjoyed the Part 1. It's a hard watch. It's a brutal watch. And I'm looking forward to Part 2. So I'm considering watching that on the playlist. So that, so far, is what we have on the geek list. And yeah, so let's move on. So I said today's episode is about looking at interesting statistics around entrepreneurship, hammering, becoming a big board, becoming a big girl.

You know, your container has landed open doors. I'm a billionaire. You know, God has done it, you know, all those sorts of things. So when you pay attention to social media, there's this. Everybody wants the whole thing of, you know, like whiz kid, for instance, you're 18 years old, somebody discovers you miracle open doors, you blow. Next thing you're with supermodels thriving music career, blah, blah, blah. Or that whole Mark Zuckerberg thing of, you know, you're 18 to 20 something, you have this idea and then you get investments and then as you just blow and then you're the biggest billionaire on the block and you know, on and on.

And that's kind of a driving a narrative that we have these days. You're behind business and entrepreneurship and those sorts of things, which is the reason why, you know, for some of us now as you're now entering that, that halfway mark of life, you know, that's the reason why some of us should not be thinking or more so I'm a fool at 40 or Jesus, I am finished at 50 or, or oh God, what am I going to do? I am senseless at 60 or you know, all those midlife crisis or whatever that comes up.

You know, you're 40 or 50 or 60, you have 1 blue, you have one hammer like, oh, am I finished? So those are some of the interesting statistics that we're going to look at today. Now, First off, we're going to look at Doctor Ola Brown. She's on LinkedIn and it looks like she has a health related fintech or something like that. I'd follow her, but she's not someone that I've really looked into stuff that she's about. So the first set of statistics you're going to find the credit is you go and check her home page and then you can check the references to see, you know,

whether these figures are accurate or not. But it sounds like stuff I've heard before. So that's the reason why I'm confidently saying it over here on the podcast. But to get the figures, if you want verified figures, go and check out Doctor Ola Brown on LinkedIn. Oh, by the way, Ola Brown, that's female and it sounds like a masculine name. So the first time I followed her and I saw the pictures, like, is this thing correct?

And then I clicked, I was like, oh, OK, she's a babe after all. And she's a very babyish babe at that, you know, So all these, you know, PhD holders that don't want to agree, you know, that wear human hair and like on the boys and for instance, you know, PhD holder and you're wearing them. What's it called? Slim jeans and and Nike sneakers and everything. I'm like you professors when I know we're angry. You guys are supposed to be nerds.

So if you're a doctor or you're a professor dressed like one and leave we normal guy men or guy babes to be in the world, you guys are supposed to be in the university tower. You're not supposed to be looking flat and all that. OK, so Doctor Ola Brown, so she's running some stats on billion dollar companies. It looks to me like most of them are American companies. So take with a pinch of salt. So I don't know if these are these kind of statistics would apply to Nigeria as well.

Although in Niger, we are severely bought into this whole thing of I start my fintech, I'm a young boy, I'm a young girl, 18 to 20 something. I raise millions of dollars, I hammer, you know, blah, blah, blah. So that thing is currently going on right now as at the date of this recording. That's what lots of people are buying into. But Doctor Ola Brown, based on the figures that she has, she shows that 4% of founders are drop outs.

You know how everybody keeps saying Mark Zuckerberg drop out, what's his name, Apple guy, drop out. And by the way, I sincerely contest these things. You cannot say that somebody dropped out of an advanced degree in Stanford or Harvard and you call that person a drop out. Meanwhile, you you're in a buffer me at all over university. You just entered the year 1. You don't want to drop out because you're looking at Zuckerberg, You're looking at at what's his name, the Apple guy.

You want to drop out? I beg anybody. That's a topic for another day. Let me just stick what Doctor Ola Brown says. So she says 4% of founders are dropouts. So let's just agree that yes, they are dropouts. And by the way, I don't think so. Dropping out of an advanced degree does not drop out. So so let's agree 4% are dropouts. No problem. But what about those who have university degrees? For the founders that have university degrees that founded billion dollar companies, guess the amount they have university degrees, Guess the amount that went to school that they started year one and then they finished and they graduated and they did was nothing convocation?

The answer is 96% yes. Boys and girls, you heard it correctly. 4% of founders dropped out of school, OK, no problem. But 96% of founders who have billion with AB dollar companies, not billion naira billion dollar companies, it is 96% of them went to uni and finished the degree. So those of you who are trying to drop out of UI, drop out of OAU, drop out of Abu, year 2 year, whatever, you guys be coming down this formula of dropout and become a billionaire.

That's not the formula. If I'm looking at these figures, it's beginning to look like the formula is finish your degree, then you become a billion dollar company. Then of the 96% that finished their university degree, they started year one, they finished year 460% of those people have master's degree or above. So people that have billion dollar companies, not billion naira, 60% of them have master's degree or above. Then 22% of those people have PhD as in they have doctor to their name, Doctor so and so and then the founder of billion dollar company.

Can you guys see how this whole thing of I dropped out of school of out of school I18I dropped out of school of 22. I now had this brilliant idea. I hammered and I became a billionaire. Can you see how those people are actually outliers And we should not be building our trajectory based on that because it happened for them. We should be thankful. We should thank God for their life and we should say God as you have done it for Zuck, for Zuckerberg, please do it for me.

But don't assume that that is the playbook because 96% of billion dollar companies, people who founded billion dollar companies, 96 for them, 96% of them finished their university degree. 60% of those people not only finished, they went to go and get masters. 22% not only got masters, they went on to go and get PhD. It did not stop them from being a billion, from finding a billion dollar company. We should stop assuming,

especially in this part of the world. You know, I hear about how a students don't go on to found companies and like who who comes up with all this rubbish Because somebody graduated in first class does not mean the person is destined to be a teacher. You can also be a founder of a billionaire company. So the reason why I take these things real personal is because when I was a little boy, there was this guy, I can't remember his name.

I think people call him like chairman more or chairman something I can't remember. That's like his nickname. He's not Nigerian anyway, but he's really respond popular now. OK, Well, back in Obasanjar's time, he was popular because he had this good governance index. You know, when Obasanjar became president, there was all this talk about Nigeria's ranking on Transparency International. Where do we rank when it comes to corruption?

Where do we rank when it comes to human rights and blah, blah, blah. And so this chairman, I can't remember his name, came up with a good governance index. And it was nice to see where Nigeria ranked on the good governance index. But The thing is, I was always looking at chairman as you know, as per PhD, because he was old and he was bald and he wore glasses and, you know, he's a Prof. So one day I found out that Prof was a billionaire.

And I say how, how can Prof be a billionaire? Because he didn't make sense to my small boy brain. Because as far as I knew, if you're old and you're bald and you have a PhD, you're supposed to be a broke lecturer somewhere. But lo and behold, he's old bald. Well, I hope he's still alive. I should have gone and checked stuff before making this broadcast episode. But anyway, you can be old bald PhD holder and be a billionaire.

And he was because he made his billions by starting a telecommunications company in this country and that is how he hammered. So there's one reason why I take it personal. Because I was one of those young boys who assumed when I was a small boy. That was my assumption. You have to drop out. It has to be something incredibly sexy and not that you grow up, you lose all your hair, you get bald, you wear glasses. And then after your middle age you start a telecoms company and then you hammer and then you become a billionaire and then extremely wealthy and then a voice to record with on the African continent.

So there are lots of young boys and young girls who are thinking that way. So please, these are the stats again. 96% of people who founded billion dollar companies, they finished their degree. Of that 9660% they went on to go and do masters. 22% went to go and get PhD. This dropout thing has only 4%. So stop assuming that you have to drop out. I guess larger message owners is that you know God can do it for you. If you drop out, it can happen.

If you do PhD, it can happen. So that's with the figures from Doctor Ola Brown on LinkedIn. Check out, follow her, see the good stuff that she's doing with her health related fintech and stuff like that. She puts up real interesting stuff. Well, by the way, this is an example about why I keep saying that you all should be on LinkedIn if you're serious about career development and personal development and business development.

Because on LinkedIn, see the quality of conversations that we're having on LinkedIn or like Facebook where it is what is raining war, war, war trend or which one is better? Nigeria bum bum or Ghanaian bum bum or Nigeria Angelo fries or or Ghanaian Jalou fries or you will not believe what happened. This man slapped his wife and her neck broke and you know all these rubbish things now on Facebook. So that's the reason why you should be on LinkedIn, because you're not going to find these sorts of things on the other social media networks.

So it's a much better place to spend your time. So the second bunch of numbers that we're going to run through, I give credit to Karla Onye Nye. I know I definitely spell that name. So Karla KOLE and then the Onyen Ying that is ONYENEYIN, if I didn't know that Yoruba people have ONYE because all the ONYEI know is either Onyechi or Onyeka or near you know, I know that as as an Ebo thing. I think that's a Yoruba thing. So color Onye.

Also, someone I follow on LinkedIn is a fund and assets manager and so he put a bunch of statistics about, you know, that deal with this whole thing of when to hammer, when is your container going to land? When is God's blessing going to show? When are you going to get your open doors? When will God do it for you? You know, when will you move to the promise sites? You know, all those sorts of things. So his was on the average age of billionaires.

Now, Mr. Kohler, if you dispute the figures, just follow Cola and then go and argue with him. But like I said, sounds like stuff I've heard before, so that's the reason why I'm putting it out here. So according to Cola or the average age of billionaires walled over, Oh, by the way, there are 3194 billionaires walled over. I was shocked because I didn't know that there were that many. I always assume that to be a billionaire was kind of like an exclusive club, maybe like they are.

I don't know a few 100 of you guys. I didn't know you. You guys are plenty, you know, 3194. So it's good. It's nice to know that the club is is is more the club is big. So it means there's room for some of us to come and join you guys in the billionaire boys club or billionaire Girls Club. So the average age of billionaires is 66 years. So for those of you who are crying, I'm a Fallout 40 or I'm finished at 50. It's not necessarily the case.

There's still time. You can still hammer. It doesn't mean that you're going to be sacked at 60. So Fallout 40, let's ignore that finish at 50, let's ignore that. Satiated and sacked at 60. Please don't talk like that. Let's be hopeful. There's still time then almost half of the billionaires, almost half of the 3194, almost half of them are between the ages of 50 to 70. So please, those of you who are 40, not full, not 40 post, you know, on social media and stuff like that, you guys should stop that thing.

So because you're 40 doesn't mean you're finished because almost half of these 3000 people are between the ages of 50 to 70. By the way, are you beginning to see how this whole thing of Zuckerberg 18 to 20 something wonderful idea how my youngest billionaire in the world, Can you see how that is not typical? And you should stop modelling your life after that. If anything, the formula is beginning to look the other way around.

Like you go old, small before you become a billionaire. So let's move on now. More than half of the people, global billionaires. So where was I? Yeah, almost half of them. OK, between 50 and 70. We've shared that one, then more than 40% of those people have clocked 70 and above. So it is possible to say, hey, I'm 40, I am finished, I'm a full or I AM 50, I'm 50. What's 50 again? Full at 40, finished at 50, associated at 6070 is what?

I have no idea. So it's possible that I can pass 4050 sixty and your container can still land, the door can still open, showers of blessing can still fall, and you can still hammer because more than 40% of them are 70 years and above. But then there is the 10%, those who are below 50, that is the one that the media likes to pay attention to, those who are below 50. And for some reason the media prefers to pay attention to the 20, you know, the 1820, maybe 30

year old. If I think by the time you reach 30, the media think your story is not sexy enough, so they're not talking about it. So all those people that are below 50, only 18%. So a great deal of the people above 40. So the summary, if you're not a billionaire dropouts by 25, relax, there is hope, God can still do it. Just validate your business idea, develop a strong selling framework around it, try and scale your activities, make sure you adopt best management practices, best accounting practices, best legal practices,

best whatever practices. Pay attention to good fundamentals and you should be fine assuming that is what you want. Because there's some people who say, look, I don't want to be billionaire. I just want to, I just want a few, several 100 million. And I'm all right. Like one time that I saw on the news that this guy, I can't remember the bank he used to work for or whether the bank he founded, but the guy has 600 million naira assets that are being managed by his family office.

So there's some people that say, look, that whole thing is not my thing. If I can just be like this guy and I have a good 500 M that were managing on behalf of me and the family, a good day. All right, So it depends on what it is that you are aiming for. So if those are your dreams, then they should put things in perspective. You don't have to be a billionaire and drop out by 25. It can happen at any time and it can happen in spite of your degree or because of your degree.

So let's just relax, pay attention to the fundamentals and do things one step at a time. And please, let's stop assuming that, OK, you've hit 40 and you're not balling yet. You now start to hyperventilate and you now start to assume that time is against you and the race is at an end. You know, the race is not necessarily at an end. So of course there are larger conversations about, you know, what's the purpose of life,

what's the end goal and all these sorts of things. But as you know, that's stuff that we handle on on a philosophy podcast or maybe on the religious podcast. But I'm just trying to say that time is not up. So if you do happen to come from a family like mine where the first set of kids already pushing 5055, you know, maybe even one or two beginning to near that 60, don't give up. Don't look around and say this whole set, all of us, we don't have one single billionaire.

We're all failures. Don't don't look at it that way. It's not necessarily the case. So thank you very much for your time and attention. Please connect with me on LinkedIn and on WhatsApp. The phone number is 08064662140. The country code is +234. For those of you who are not Nigerian and the name to look for is Tavishima Ayede, the host of the show. Use the link, get the spelling of my name, highlight, copy, paste in LinkedIn.

My face will pop up. I'm not looking as pretty as Doctor Ola Brown and I'm not looking as spiffy as a Collar or Nagy, but I'm not a bad looking fellow and I'm also an interesting person to hang around as well. Just in case you haven't been convinced so far by my playlist, you know, the geek list and the Nerd list. You know, I'm actually an interesting guy, a man of good taste, and we can be friends and have wonderful conversations,

not just about business, but all other things life and art related. So thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next episode.