How did the smartest person from your class/school end up? (Success/Fail stories)
I think it was Robert Kiyosaki who said that straight-A students end up working for C students, and B students work for the government.
On the other hand, we often see stories of college dropouts building billion-dollar companies. But these “next big thing” cases are maybe 2% at most. I believe top students usually find their place in more formal paths: becoming doctors, lawyers, and similar professions.
I’m curious: How did the best students from your school or your class actually end up?
(As for me… I heard that the top student from my class now spends a lot of time on Product Hunt.) 😅
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Triforce Todos
I’ve noticed that the top students often go into stable, high-responsibility careers, while the risk-takers carve unconventional paths.
MultiDrive
@abod_rehman sad, but true)
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@abod_rehman probably so formed by rules that they are afraid of risky things.
My 2 cents...😊
Top students from my school ended up in fairly average positions, and I’ve always felt it is a kind of law of conservation of energy.😅 When you push too hard early in life, burnout often hits sooner. Personally, I performed much better in college than I ever did in school.
School should be a space for exploration, not pressure—a place to try different things and discover your strengths. That wasn’t the case earlier, but thankfully, things are changing.
With the right clarity and a strong mentor, it doesn’t matter if you’re a college dropout, homeschooled, or come from a completely unconventional path—you can still build great companies. No matter where you come from, you’ll need to surround yourself with people who have strong analytical skills, and most of them come from college. 😌
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@godeepti Were you an A-player at school or? 👀
@busmark_w_nikaI was never an A student in high school. I barely maintained average scores, according to my teachers, because I was busy with extracurricular activities. In college, I performed well, but I worked hard. I was never a topper, and I have no regrets about it now.
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@godeepti Cool! But you have a wide horrizon of activities :)
TinyCommand
In my school, the toppers did well, but in the exact ways everyone expected them to.
The real surprises came from the ones no one really noticed, they ended up finding their own weird, wonderful paths in life.
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@anushkahode What happened with him? What does he and what he used to be like?
TinyCommand
@busmark_w_nika Honestly, he was pretty quiet in school, no one really expected anything unusual from him.
Now he’s focusing on more creative things and running his own small little business. It actually suits him way more than the path people imagined for him back then.
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@anushkahode Maybe he always wanted to do these things. :) But cool he followed his dreams :)
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@george_esther " dullards " – in what sense?
MultiDrive
Top 3 students from my class - an economist (successful), a journalist, and a product manager for MultiDrive :D
Sad but true: top performers often prefer stability, while those who are willing to take risks are the ones who start their own businesses.
But I'm happy with what I have. :)
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@tetiana_hryshmanovska Were you also a top performer? :D :)
MultiDrive
@busmark_w_nika Yes :D
But I didn’t study everything out of pure interest - a lot of it was because I felt a sense of responsibility toward my parents. :)
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@tetiana_hryshmanovska 🤝 So we are on the same boat :D
MultiDrive
@busmark_w_nika 😄
I think many of us studied because we felt we had to. Glad that with time we get more freedom to choose what we truly enjoy. :)
Meet-Ting
Unrelated, but wish the education system focused on raw talent identification as early as possible - so often people with natural gifts are made to focus on more universal classes which stalls them becoming the best at their unique skill. I always think about people who love maths having to do geography, or people who are great at dancing made to do it after school, would be great to push people down the path of what they enjoy and have gifts already.
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@dbul I agree with this. I understand that the school wants to offer more directions, but they are so strict about rules that they bury real talents.
The top two students from my school ended up in academia and hard tech. We aren’t in touch anymore but last I heard, the stuff they were working on was pretty interesting and I think they really loved what they were doing.
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@natasha_knox I am pretty sure that they are successful (just because they are happy with the work) :)
The top students from both high school and college ended up taking careers and going through the job ladder within companies. On the flipside, some unsuspecting/unconventional C avg or even dropouts ended up starting their own businesses and companies and are thriving.
I guess it also depends on your philosophy on what success is - the dropouts are doing well entrepreneurially. The top students are also thriving in their career/career ladders.
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@rvalenzjetti Are those C-players better-paid than those A-players?
entrepreneurship was never meant to be the “safe” route. Kiyosaki had a point. school rewards the followers while thinkers are menace to the society, that is why knowledge is dangerous for those who are in possession of power. They are scared of people making systems eventually making them as competitors.
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@kilopolki I know. :) And what about the smartest people in your schools? How did they end up?