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“Never let schooling interfere with the tech startup you’re running out of your dorm room.” – Mark Twain

Admittedly I may have taken a few artistic liberties with the Mark Twain quote above, but the underlying sentiment remains: When it comes to learning — to amassing the knowledge you need to be successful in life — formal education isn’t always the best option.

In a study of over 39 companies with $1 billion valuations or higher, eight of them boasted co-founders who had dropped out of college. Not to mention, three of the top five companies were run by college dropouts.

Of course, there’s no ignoring the evidence to the contrary: The overwhelming majority of billion-dollar companies were founded by people who not only earned college degrees, but who earned them from selective schools. So the point of this post, to be clear, isn’t to convince folks to drop out of school. It’s simply to highlight some of the exceptional cases where taking a less traditional route ended up paying off big.

6 Famous Business People Who Dropped Out of School

1) Bill Gates

(Source: ITPro)

Bill Gates applied to just three colleges after graduating from high school: Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. 

He was accepted to all three.

In the end, it was Harvard’s campus that Gates chose to stroll onto in the fall of 1973. But within a couple years, earning a degree from one of the most prestigious universities in the world would take a back seat to another opportunity: Creating a programming language (Altair BASIC) for one of the world’s first personal computers, the Altair 8800.

Originally working out of his Harvard dorm room, Gates would formalize his partnership with long-time friend Paul Allen in 1975 under the banner “Micro-soft.” The two then set up shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which was where their first customer — Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), maker of the Altair 8800 — was located. And while Gates did initially try to balance academics with business, and would travel back to Harvard to take classes, the business inevitably started taking up more and more of his time. (He was a CEO, after all.) So Gates made the decision to drop out of school for good.

Today, Gates has an estimated net worth of $77.6 billion. And you might be surprised to learn that he also has a Harvard degree: Gates received an honorary doctorate from the school in 2007.

2) Steve Jobs

(Source: 9to5Mac)

Unlike Bill Gates, who dropped out of college so he could run a company, Steve Jobs dropped out of college so he could … well … go to college. Allow me to explain.

Having found the required classes on his schedule too boring to bear, Jobs dropped out of Reed College just six months into his freshman year so he could drop in on the classes that he was actually interested in — like Shakespeare, dance, and calligraphy. That calligraphy course, as Jobs would later call in a 2005 Stanford commencement speech, helped inspire him to incorporate multiple typefaces into the Macintosh.

I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great … None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac.”

In that same speech, Jobs mentioned another reason why he dropped out of college: He felt bad for spending his parents’ money on an education that he didn’t really see the value in.

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.

And when you consider that Jobs went on to create what is now (at the time of this writing) the most valuable brand in the world, I think it’s safe to say it all worked out OK.

3) Oprah Winfrey

(Source: K92.7)

Three years after Steve Jobs gave Stanford’s commencement speech, another college-dropout-turned-billionaire would take the stage: Oprah Winfrey.

In her speech to the graduating class of 2008, the Queen of Talk recalled how she started working in TV at the age of 19 while she was a sophomore at Tennessee State University. “I was the only television anchor person that had an 11 o’clock curfew doing the 10 o’clock news,” she commented, before continuing, “Seriously, my dad was like, ‘Well, that news is over at 10:30. Be home by 11.'”

By the time her senior year rolled around, Winfrey’s TV career was looking promising. So promising, in fact, that instead of sticking around to complete the one credit she needed to graduate, Oprah dropped out of college. A year later, at the age of 22, Winfrey was co-anchoring the 6 o’clock news in Baltimore.

Needless to stay, Winfrey’s decision to drop out paid off big. Today, her net worth is estimated at $3.1 billion. But there was one person in Winfrey’s life who could never come to terms with her not finishing college: Her father. As Winfrey recalled in the Stanford speech …

He’d say, ‘Oprah Gail’ — that’s my middle name — ‘I don’t know what you’re gonna do without that degree.’ And I’d say, ‘But, Dad, I have my own television show.’ And he’d say, ‘Well, I still don’t know what you’re going to do without that degree.’ And I’d say, ‘But, Dad, now I’m a talk show host.’ He’d say, ‘I don’t know how you’re going to get another job without that degree.'”

In then end, Winfrey’s dad would prove to be the winner of that argument. In 1987, Winfrey went back to Tennessee State University and completed her degree.

4) Mark Zuckerberg

(Source: PR News)

Mark Zuckerberg holds an interesting spot on this list, as he’s one of the few college dropout success stories who actually planned on going back to school. In a talk he gave back in 2012, the Facebook co-founder and CEO recalled how he had been upfront with investor Peter Thiel about not wanting to drop out of Harvard.

Thiel didn’t believe him. In fact, Zuckerberg’s own family didn’t believe him — they all thought he would drop out. As Zuckerberg commented during that same talk back in 2012:

My life is a long history of people thinking I would drop out of school long before I did.”

For Zuckerberg, at least in the early days, Facebook was just a hobby. Whereas Gates knew he was onto something big (e.g., consumer software) when he started running Microsoft out of his Harvard dorm room, Zuckerberg was a bit more skeptical when he launched the first iteration of Facebook. He even had a back up plan if this “hobby” didn’t work out: He’d go work for Microsoft.

Of course, as Facebook began growing like wildfire, becoming one of the top 10 most-trafficked site on the internet within a year and a half of its launch, Zuckerberg inevitably realized that this side project of his had some serious potential. So in the fall of 2005, Zuckerberg left Harvard to focus on Facebook full-time.

He’d return to Harvard a year later … to recruit engineers.

5) Jay Z

(Source: EW)

While Jay Z is perhaps best known as a rapper, he’s also an accomplished entrepreneur. From founding his own record label (Roc-A-Fella) and talent agency (Roc Nation), to launching a clothing line (Rocawear), to re-launching a music streaming service (Tidal), Jay Z a.k.a. Shawn Carter has a diverse business portfolio.

Something else you might not have known about Jay Z: He never finished high school. The Brooklyn native dropped out to focus on his job at the time … dealing drugs. As Jay Z recalled in a 2013 interview, drug dealing ended up teaching him some valuable business skills, like budgeting. But at the same time, he always knew it wasn’t a viable path forward:

At some point, you have to have an exit strategy, because your window is very small. You’re going to get locked up or you’re going to die.”

Fortunately for Jay Z, he had an exit strategy: Music. As of 2015, his estimated net worth is $550 million.

6) Lady Gaga

(Source: The Mirror)

I know, know … another music example. But trust me, Lady Gaga is more than just a performer: she’s a business unto herself. (I mean, there’s a Harvard Business School case study on her, for paparazzi’s sake.)

Born Stefani Germanotta, Lady Gaga attended New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts after graduating from high school. But during her sophomore year, she decided to drop out to focus more on her fledgling music career — a decision that would end up paying off in a big way.

In addition to earning millions through selling and performing her music, Lady Gaga has been able to cash in through numerous brand partnerships and tie-ins. For example, she’s teamed up with Versace, Virgin Mobile, and even Starbucks for promotional campaigns.

Today, Lady Gaga’s net worth is estimated at $225 million.

Know of any other successful dropouts who should be on this list? Tell us in the comments section below.

Fundraisers are great opportunities to raise money, right? Wrong—well, sort of wrong.

Often hosted just a few times a year, these races, picnics, galas, and more are great opportunities for nonprofit marketers to learn more about their communities, members, and donors. Rather than chasing down your website visitors to complete sample surveys or connect with your team over the phone, you can have a good old fashioned conversation.

Rule #1 is to tone down the selling. Focus on getting to know your event-goers on a personal level so that you can empathize with them. Human connections are often difficult to replicate online, so it’s important to make the most out of all the face time that you have—it’s a treasure trove. And because your donors are often busy individuals, it’s rare that you’ll be able to wrangle them into a room together.

Make sure that you have a good marketing and research plan in place for your next fundraising event.

Here are a few tips to guide you: 

Organize Your Ducks

As you spend time with members and donors at your fundraising events, you’ll collect immensely valuable information that can inform your marketing strategy. Where are you storing this information?

The answer to this question is mission-critical. These days, companies are making huge investments in researching their audiences—something that you can do at no additional cost when you’re hosting a high-profile event.

Weeks before your event, do a little due diligence on your marketing systems. Make sure that you have a unified database with comprehensive audience profiles. The information that you collect from your events will ultimately need rehoming from your notebooks and brain.

Get Personal

Personalization is one of the biggest opportunities—and biggest challenges—in marketing. The amount of data that you’ll collect at an event is unparalleled compared to what you’ll collect online and over time.

Make sure that your database is flexible enough to organize this information. The best way to get started? Brainstorm a set of personalization elements that you think will make your core website experience better. Then, make sure that your database can accommodate this valuable information.

At the event, focus on collecting the information that you’ve identified as ideal for your user experience.

Get Feedback on Your Marketing Campaigns

While you’ll want to keep the pitching to a minimum at your fundraiser, you should still feel comfortable ‘talking shop.’

When mingling at your fundraiser, ask your members and donors to share feedback around your marketing campaigns. Are they reading your blog posts? Do they find your one-pagers valuable? What information do they wish they could have on hand?

By answering these questions, you’ll be well-positioned to build upon your marketing campaigns. Instead of generating content and messaging that are off base, you can develop a more compelling value proposition.

Since you’ll be talking to donors in person, you’ll have an especially valuable opportunity to collect feedback ‘between the lines.’ Pay attention to what people aren’t telling you during your conversations. A follow-up email with a survey or request for feedback is a great way to make sure no attendee information falls through the cracks. 

Be Delightful

In a day and age when automated marketing campaigns are the norm, your company needs an extra edge to stand out. 

Why not follow up with the donors that you ended up meeting in person? Take initial steps to build a lasting, long-term relationship with each person: show that your organization cares.

When it comes to marketing, never underestimate the value of a personal touch. When the people behind your organization are present and visible, your audiences will take notice.

Plan for the Future

Stuck on the messaging for your next ad campaign? Looking for case study ideas? Next time you host a fundraiser, make sure to identify these goals ahead of time. As you’re well-aware, marketing moves at a million miles per hour. If you want these same donors to come back next year, you’ll want to start your event planning process now.

Look for in-depth stories. Pay attention to the conversations that elicit the most emotions from your donors. Figure out what you can do better next time.

Final Thoughts

Effective marketing campaigns are getting tougher to develop—especially if your organization is budget-strapped and lacking a seven figure marketing budget. Stop trying to compete with more dollars: improve your value proposition instead. Make the most out of every donor touchpoint—build lasting, impactful relationships.

Inbound marketing is shown to be incredibly effective for attracting website visitors and generating leads. But for many companies, there’s still a place for outbound marketing tactics (like print advertising, broadcasting, and so on) alongside those inbound tactics.

So how can offline marketing work hand-in-hand with your online marketing efforts? Is there a way to incorporate both into your larger marketing strategy?

To learn how different online and offline marketing channel can work together, check out the infographic below from Colour Graphics. You’ll learn where companies tend to spend their online and offline marketing budgets, which marketing tactics give the best return on investment, and how you can help drive offline conversations through online marketing.