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> Founders often have little formal education.

This sounds ridiculous. Most founders I've seen had degrees.

And for the three companies you listed. Gates and Zuckerberg both went to Harvard but dropped out. And Zennström had an MBA and Masters of Engineering/Computer Science.

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Gates and Zuckerberg dropped out of college. Skype's other half, Friis, dropped out of highschool.

The point is that IT founders and employees in average have shorter education than founders of pharmaceutical companies. I think it's a fact that is hard to argue against, whether or not you find it ridiculous.

I am not saying they are less smart, just that they usually have less formal education.

That is because IT is more on the side of 'art' and 'open creativity' than pharmaceuticals which require a lot of background knowledge, far more rigorous testing and standards, and are a much more deadly legal minefield. Both require technical skills in a way, though alot of the pharmaceutical founders barely spend any time in the actual lab. Not to mention the average cost in R&D to launch ONE pharmaceutical product is $500M, meaning you need business skill. (And a patent to earn back your research money!)

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