Academic or Entrepreneur

[ChimpGrip]

My ultimate goal one day is to own my own large company (something that can grow into a corporation with 500 or more employees). Reading about and watching interviews of the super successful - Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Tilman Fertitta, Michael Dell, Grant Cardone, etc- motivates me to work hard to gain the knowledge I need to be able to one day lay the foundation of such a goal. 

On the other hand, I've been reading more about some very successful academics at major universities. Their lists of accomplishments are usually quite impressive. Often, they've written several books and articles, have sat on or are currently on the board of directors for medium to large companies, and sometimes they've discovered something in their field. Also, these professors can draw large salaries, anywhere from $120K to $7.8 million (the latter being the highest I have ever seen). The best paid professors at Texas A&M can make $260-320K (let me make one thing year, I do not have any expectation of starting off with some extraordinary pay grade. I believe it must be earned like anything else. And this is not something I'd do for the money, even if it does one day pay me well).

 Some academics and university personnel I've read about who fall into this - Dr. Zev Rosenwaks at Cornell, Dr. David Silvers at Columbia, David Wilkins at Harvard Law School, Greg Fenves at The University of Texas at Austin (current president but use to be a professor), Trevor Smith at Columbia, and some of the professors I've had at my own institution. What I like about the idea of a career in academia versus chasing entrepreneurship is the idea of job security. Plus its always been a goal of mine to obtain a Ph.D. from either MIT or Harvard in my 40's (currently 26 years old). 

My question is, for the many on here who are more experienced in the real world than I am, how can I further narrow it down and pick one of the two for a long-term goal? Would it be realistic to try both? Work on a PhD and land a job at a university, and save and invest money into a start-up on the side? 

Sorry if the post is long and or doesn't make a lick of sense, I will do my best to clear up any questions. 

[imaGoodBoyNow]

2 hours ago, ChimpGrip said:

My ultimate goal one day is to own my own large company (something that can grow into a corporation with 500 or more employees). Reading about and watching interviews of the super successful - Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Tilman Fertitta, Michael Dell, Grant Cardone, etc- motivates me to work hard to gain the knowledge I need to be able to one day lay the foundation of such a goal. 

On the other hand, I've been reading more about some very successful academics at major universities. Their lists of accomplishments are usually quite impressive. Often, they've written several books and articles, have sat on or are currently on the board of directors for medium to large companies, and sometimes they've discovered something in their field. Also, these professors can draw large salaries, anywhere from $120K to $7.8 million (the latter being the highest I have ever seen). The best paid professors at Texas A&M can make $260-320K (let me make one thing year, I do not have any expectation of starting off with some extraordinary pay grade. I believe it must be earned like anything else. And this is not something I'd do for the money, even if it does one day pay me well).

 Some academics and university personnel I've read about who fall into this - Dr. Zev Rosenwaks at Cornell, Dr. David Silvers at Columbia, David Wilkins at Harvard Law School, Greg Fenves at The University of Texas at Austin (current president but use to be a professor), Trevor Smith at Columbia, and some of the professors I've had at my own institution. What I like about the idea of a career in academia versus chasing entrepreneurship is the idea of job security. Plus its always been a goal of mine to obtain a Ph.D. from either MIT or Harvard in my 40's (currently 26 years old). 

My question is, for the many on here who are more experienced in the real world than I am, how can I further narrow it down and pick one of the two for a long-term goal? Would it be realistic to try both? Work on a PhD and land a job at a university, and save and invest money into a start-up on the side? 

Sorry if the post is long and or doesn't make a lick of sense, I will do my best to clear up any questions. 

Do what you Enjoy doing 
 

like make a website that pinpoints the exact point in every movie 🎥 that shows feet  🦶 

call it PlentyOfFeet.com or something 

 

or make a new type of weight or machine for gyms 

 

... I wouldn’t worry about 500 employees for years from now,

The easiest thing  would be get your PHD and start a commercial interior demolition company ,

 

there's always a high demand and it’s not brain science, all you gotta do is find laborers that know how to swing a sledgehammer and use a crowbars 

 

you find one laborer that’s really good And trustworthy , pay him $35 an hour to be the foreman and control the other laborers while your not there, 

best part is you charge the customer by  the dumpster , so if it’s a dumpster full of copper and metal studs you still charge them the dumpster and make money from charging them and what you get from the scrap yard

 

 

think about. There’s millions of companies a year that need demolition and stuff removed when they rent a new office 

 

 

hope this made sense 

[ChimpGrip]

6 minutes ago, imaGoodBoyNow said:

Do what you Enjoy doing 
 

like make a website that pinpoints the exact point in every movie 🎥 that shows feet  🦶 

call it PlentyOfFeet.com or something 

 

or make a new type of weight or machine for gyms 

 

... I wouldn’t worry about 500 employees for years from now,

The easiest thing  would be get your PHD and start a commercial interior demolition company ,

 

there's always a high demand and it’s not brain science, all you gotta do is find laborers that know how to swing a sledgehammer and use a crowbars 

 

you find one laborer that’s really good And trustworthy , pay him $35 an hour to be the foreman and control the other laborers while your not there, 

best part is you charge the customer by  the dumpster , so if it’s a dumpster full of copper and metal studs you still charge them the dumpster and make money from charging them and what you get from the scrap yard

 

 

think about. There’s millions of companies a year that need demolition and stuff removed when they rent a new office 

 

 

hope this made sense 

Brilliant website idea lmao. 

[imaGoodBoyNow]

2 minutes ago, ChimpGrip said:

Or I could just sell feet pics?

Too late ur late to that party 

 

 

it’s called Snapchat Premium

[ChimpGrip]

Just now, imaGoodBoyNow said:

Too late ur late to that party 

 

 

it’s called Snapchat Premium

Haha wow I am too late then. Damn internet

[Belly Bob]

3 hours ago, ChimpGrip said:

[...]

Some academics and university personnel I've read about who fall into this - Dr. Zev Rosenwaks at Cornell, Dr. David Silvers at Columbia, David Wilkins at Harvard Law School, Greg Fenves at The University of Texas at Austin (current president but use to be a professor), Trevor Smith at Columbia, and some of the professors I've had at my own institution. What I like about the idea of a career in academia versus chasing entrepreneurship is the idea of job security. Plus its always been a goal of mine to obtain a Ph.D. from either MIT or Harvard in my 40's (currently 26 years old). 

My question is, for the many on here who are more experienced in the real world than I am, how can I further narrow it down and pick one of the two for a long-term goal? Would it be realistic to try both? Work on a PhD and land a job at a university, and save and invest money into a start-up on the side? 

[...]

What do you want to study?

I wouldn't focus on the title or the salary but on what you'd prefer to do from 7 am to 8 pm Mon.-Sat. 

[CCBlackhatter]

If you're concerned with "job security" then you already lack a key personality trait of those successful entrepreneurs listed.

 

[ChimpGrip]

On 4/3/2020 at 11:32 PM, CCBlackhatter said:

If you're concerned with "job security" then you already lack a key personality trait of those successful entrepreneurs listed.

 

Well I mean it is an advantage, not a preference, concern, or requirement. 

[ChimpGrip]

On 4/3/2020 at 3:19 PM, Belly Bob said:

What do you want to study?

I wouldn't focus on the title or the salary but on what you'd prefer to do from 7 am to 8 pm Mon.-Sat. 

At the post-grad level, most likely finance or accounting. I wouldn't rule out economics though. I already have my undergrad in accounting and am in my last semester of my MBA with a concentration in finance.