University

Where did the entrepreneurs who started world famous companies go to college?

Published on May 22, 2018

Who are the founders of the world’s most famous companies and where did they go to college? We’ve all heard of the companies Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Youtube. I bet you have used the services of one of these companies today. Have you ever wondered how they became world famous entrepreneurs? The story begins with their founders. They all attended American universities and are living proof that almost every American college can produce an entrepreneur.

Brian Chesky- Airbnb

Brian attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), a great arts and design school. After graduation he moved across the country to Silicon Valley to start a business with his classmate Joe Gebbia. They found out that hotels in the area were completely full for a conference and decided to rent air mattresses in their own house. This was the beginning of Airbnb and Brian is now worth $3.8 Billion. In order to apply to RISD college you will need a good GPA, SAT and a portfolio.

Jeff Bezos- Amazon.com

Jeff studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Princeton University. While he enjoyed working on Wall Street, he left to travel across the country and set up an online book store. Bezos is still the CEO of Amazon and just purchased Whole Foods, an organic foods supermarket chain. Amazon continues to dominate online sales today with 16% market share. Princeton University requires SAT or ACT test plus two SAT subject tests.

Steve Jobs- Apple

Steve founded Apple computers in his garage, but before that, he was a student at Reed College. After his recent passing, a major motion picture entitled “Steve Jobs” captured a general viewpoint of his career. One thing they missed, was the college experiences that influenced his products. In a recent commencement speech, Jobs referenced a Calligraphy class he took at Reed, “If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.” Reeds College requires SAT or ACT test.

Mark Zuckerberg- Facebook

Mark founded Facebook with his classmate Eduardo Saverin at Harvard University. His inspiration for the project was based on his social experiences at Harvard and portrayed in the movie “The Social Network”. Mark ended up leaving Harvard before graduating. But would he have ever created Facebook if he never went to college? Harvard is extremely competitive and requires SAT or ACT test and two SAT subject test.It is also a need-blind school, what means that if you get accepted you can get a full scholarship.

Chad Hurley- Youtube.com

Chad studied Fine Arts at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, definitely not a very famous or well ranked school. His college experiences led him to Ebay, where he was responsible for designing the PayPal logo. At Ebay, he met his future Youtube business partners and started along a path that changed the internet forever. Indiana University of Pennsylvania is very friendly towards international students. The school only requires TOEFL of 61 or IELTS of 6.0 and offer partial scholarships!

While all of these mogul’s stories are distinctly different, each person was significantly influenced by their university experiences. They met their future business partners, learned specific lessons, and used classroom knowledge to get their first job in the industry. The culmination of their experiences led to incredible products we all rely upon today.

Lastly, our founders all attended university in the USA, but didn’t necessarily attended top institutions. You don’t need to attend famous or big universities to be successful. Find the right college fit, big or small, famous or underrated, and work hard to create the next big thing.

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