I read a particularly unflattering LinkedIn comment on my piece where I noted that I do not invest in undergraduate students building startups, since running a startup (not a small business) cannot be a part-time job! The argument was this: a smart student could maintain good grades while running a company! Good People, there is a clear difference between running a company and working in one. Grades are not everything!
Understand that companies do not hire you just because you made good grades in school. You are hired because you’ve demonstrated attributes which resulted in a good outcome (good grades). To get good grades, you managed your time, showed discipline to accomplish a purpose, etc. The assumption is this: if you can apply those attributes in a job, the outcome would be good.
Please understand that the processes to get a good grade are more important than the grade. Most attributes to success are universal while grades are not. Staying on course with those attributes makes the future predictable even when the grades become irrelevant!
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Success in life is not defined by academic grades even though good grades will not hurt. The fact is this: a person can make As in a university-life-phase and still fail drastically in a professional-life-phase. While the phase-exams are different, behind them are clear relationships: process. It is safer to hire an A student than a C student as the A student has demonstrated the ability to set goals (every student desires to make good grades) and accomplished them. The key thing is not the A but the process that leads to the A. Simply, if you hire that A-student graduate, and he/she continues to apply those principles, there is a high chance he can deliver A performance in the company. That also explains the quality and the difficulty of getting that A in a school. One school’s A is another’s C. So, it comes down to processes which are needed for those grades.
To be a founder of a startup, some attributes which will make you a great staff may not favour you! So, combining school with work, and building your company (a startup, not a small business) while in school are different things! But even that requires a process. So, the key is mastering the process of what you need to thrive.
If someone asks you the “course” you must make A+ in school, tell him/her: PROCESS.
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We can also infer that those with good grades are better at running companies, because they are more likely to act professionally, pay attention to details, and maintain great level of consistency.
On the other hand, the intelligent ones who couldn’t make good grades might be better at creating or innovating, since such practices don’t require set rules or standard procedures, at the end of the day understanding your calling will make all the difference.
What is not correct is to claim that grades don’t matter, just because you are unable to make good ones. Not sure anyone can feel hurt for making As, so why not get them first and still go on to achieve excellence? Both are not mutually exclusive.