Unfinished Business: Is the Degree Key?

Matthew Klein, who enrolled in Stanford's program in the early 1990s, says he loved school. As a self-proclaimed technology geek, he saw Stanford as his ideal environment. From his apartment, he started a company that created payment technology for those who were among the first to sell downloadable software online. "It seemed foolish to spend time in class when we were in a race to build the company," he says. One quarter shy of graduating, Klein bid adieu to Stanford.

"STRANGE TURNS."  That first venture, which morphed into an online distribution business, went bankrupt after Klein left it to launch Tech Planet. You might have heard of this second startup, which received much fanfare for having the potential to be the "Starbucks of computer services," says Klein. He was forced to shut down Tech Planet after having spent too much money up front before generating revenue.

Despite the two failed businesses, Klein says leaving Stanford was good for him. Before dropping out, he had already developed a solid network and feels enlightened by the education he received.

Now, as owner of collective2.com, Klein rates traders, stock pickers, and trading systems. He works, for the most part, independently from home. In February, 2007, Warner Books is planning to release Klein's first novel, Con Ed, about a con man who sets up shop in Silicon Valley during the dot-com boom. "I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't take those strange turns, like dropping out of business school," says Klein.

Part of the reason these MBA dropouts say they're satisfied and don't have second thoughts about their decision to quit graduate school comes from the way they measure success. "You can be a success without being a billionaire in the Internet boom," says Foote. Certainly, some MBA dropouts have a harder time than others. But a piece of paper clearly isn't always the key to happiness.

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