According to Fortune, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told interviewer Rowan Cheung at the DevDay conference that he is “envious of the current generation of 20-year-old dropouts.” He stated the opportunity space for building new things is “incredibly wide” right now, but he hasn’t had a “real chunk of free mental space” to think about new ventures in the past couple of years. Altman himself dropped out of Stanford University in 2005 to co-found the location-sharing app Loopt, which raised over $30 million from firms like Sequoia Capital. He later became president of Y Combinator and co-founded OpenAI in December 2015 with figures including Elon Musk. His comments come as a new LinkedIn survey found only 41% of junior U.S. professionals believe a college degree is necessary for career success.
Altman’s nostalgia and FOMO
Here’s the thing about Sam Altman’s envy: it’s not really about college. It’s about creative freedom. He’s basically admitting that running a multi-billion-dollar company that’s steering the future of AI is mentally all-consuming. There’s no room for the blue-sky, “what if?” brainstorming that fuels a brand-new startup. And that, to him, is “a little bit sad.” It’s a fascinating peek behind the curtain of being a tech CEO. You achieve monumental success, but the trade-off is losing the very chaotic, creative energy that got you there. He’s nostalgic for the scramble, the uncertainty, the pure builder’s mindset he had at 19. Now, his job is management, strategy, and global diplomacy. Which would you find more fun?
The Silicon Valley degree doctrine
Altman is just the latest in a long, prestigious line of tech leaders to question the formal education path. The article name-drops Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey—all dropouts. But this isn’t just about legendary exceptions anymore. The sentiment is becoming mainstream in the industry. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg said in April that “maybe not everyone needs to go to college,” and GV CEO David Krane recounted his son questioning if college was a “scam” after a summer working in AI. When the CEOs of the world’s most influential tech companies are openly doubting the system, it sends a powerful signal. They’re the ultimate hirers. If they don’t value the degree, why should aspiring founders spend four years and a fortune on one?
Timing and the AI gold rush
Altman’s comment about the “incredibly wide” opportunity space is key. He didn’t say this in 2010 or 2015. He said it now, in the middle of the generative AI explosion—a revolution his own company kicked into hyperdrive. The barrier to building a software company is lower than ever, and the potential areas to disrupt are vast. For a smart, driven 20-year-old right now, spending years in lecture halls learning computer science fundamentals that are evolving monthly might feel like a terrible strategic delay. Why study the old paradigm when you can build the new one? The economic landscape for Gen Z is tough, but in tech, there’s a parallel reality of unprecedented low-cost tools and models available to anyone. The timing has never been better to drop out and build. Or at least, that’s the powerful myth Silicon Valley loves to sell.
The reckoning is here
So is college a scam for entrepreneurs? It’s not that simple. For every dropout billionaire, there are thousands of failed startups founded by dropouts we never hear about. The network, structured learning, and safety net of college still have immense value. But the absolute requirement of a degree is crumbling. The “reckoning” Zuckerberg mentioned seems to be happening. Companies are dropping degree requirements, and bootcamps or self-taught paths are more legitimate than ever. Altman’s envy is a symbolic capstone on this shift. The top of the mountain is looking at the base camp and saying, “You know, you might not need to take the old, paved road to get up here anymore. There’s a faster, messier path through the woods, and honestly, it looks more fun.” The question is whether that path is viable for anyone without the innate advantages and luck of a Sam Altman.
