Viral stories celebrating billionaire entrepreneurs who dropped out of college or school can create unrealistic expectations for young Indians, according to Niranjan Avasthi, President of Edelweiss Mutual Fund. Avasthi emphasizes that these individuals achieved success not because they abandoned their education, but often despite it, owing to a rare combination of talent, timing, resilience, and execution.
Survivorship Bias in Success Stories
Avasthi points out that such narratives frequently suffer from survivorship bias. This cognitive error leads people to focus exclusively on extraordinary success stories while overlooking the vast majority who followed a similar unconventional path but failed. He reacted to a viral graphic featuring prominent Indian entrepreneurs like Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath, DMart's Radhakishan Damani, CRED's Kunal Shah, OYO's Ritesh Agarwal, and Physics Wallah's Alakh Pandey.
“These stories inspire, but they are also misleading,” Avasthi stated. He elaborated that for every entrepreneur who built a billion-dollar company after leaving formal education, millions struggle to secure even a basic livelihood. Focusing solely on these successful outliers distorts the perception of risk and makes highly unconventional career choices appear more attainable than they truly are.
Education: A Reliable Path to Economic Mobility
Despite the achievements of high-profile dropouts, Avasthi stressed that education remains one of the most dependable avenues for improving economic mobility, particularly in India. “Good education remains the surest shot to come out of poverty for most,” he asserted.
He urged students and young professionals not to view these exceptional journeys as a universal blueprint for success. While acknowledging the entrepreneurial spirit, he advised, “Respect the exceptions but don't romanticise their path. These are their stories and not a template for success that anyone can follow.”
Beyond Formal Education: Other Factors for Entrepreneurial Success
Many successful founders who forewent formal education built their empires after years of experimentation, repeated failures, and relentless execution—factors often minimized in simplified social media portrayals. Experts consistently highlight that entrepreneurial success hinges on multiple variables, including access to capital, robust mentorship, precise market timing, genuine innovation, and unwavering persistence.
While formal education is not an absolute prerequisite for building a thriving company, it undeniably furnishes valuable skills, cultivates professional networks, and opens up opportunities that significantly enhance long-term career prospects for the vast majority of individuals. Avasthi’s comments serve as a critical reminder that while exceptional success stories can certainly inspire ambition, they should not supersede informed decision-making. For most young Indians, a solid educational foundation offers a far more reliable trajectory than betting on becoming the next billionaire dropout.