> When someone asks me if it's worth doing a PhD I tend to say that you need to like the direction in which science is going. If you don't like it and are rather rebellious, it's better to start a company.

While this feeds into the founder kool-aid we all drank as founders, it also speaks volumes of truth to me to this day: I rejected where biology/ecology was going even when supposedly favourable paradigms--Al Gore's inconvenient truth and Carbon Credits were a thing as I was wrapping up my undergrad and I was appalled by both--were standing in front of progress and the most obvious solutions if you could take the small amount of time to familiarize yourself with emerging technology outside your gradschool bubble. Something I don't think academics are actually capable for fear of seeming to reveal themselves as hyper-specialized in one aspect only rather than the polymath they may seem/convinced themselves that they are.

Also, it is my experience most academics are tone-deaf and incredibly petty individuals: a visit with the tenured faculty was enough for me to run for the hills of the debt-laden, financial crisis impacted work-force.

I still visit my Biochemistry professor from time to time, who did well getting into Bitcoin, when I launched my startup working with the Hemp Industry; and I'm super proud of playing a part in that since we both got hit hard during the 2008 financial crisis. But I'm glad I turned down his offer to work in his lab and get my Masters and went through boot-strapping hell to launch my startup after working in many Industries just to get by.

It was interesting white boarding about the bio-chemistry of CBD (and other cannabnoids for that matter) infused drinks/food I could pitch to my clients as profitable avenues of growth after struggling to make it to class and 'only get a B-' because I just didn't 'fit' (read: rebellious) the school model at all despite having both honors and letters of recommendation to join two labs.

I'm in Grad school now (almost 20 years since starting my undergrad) for CompSci now, but only because I'm working to transition into Big Data and I already work on the large Data Centers spurred on by the AI hype; luckily it's a non-thesis program for experienced and working professionals (I'm currently on assignment for a sub-contractor in WY).