When I told my parents that I was skipping college to start my own company instead, they saw it as a somewhat reckless decision.
Instead of rites of passage usually associated with your late teens, I spent my Friday nights cold-calling clients and calculating ROI. For a long time, it felt like an unconventional choice. Six companies and hundreds of employees later, having only ever worked for myself, I know that it was the right one.
Today, a university degree no longer guarantees a job. More and more young people are beginning to question whether college is worth it. Student loans are rising, graduate jobs are being decimated, and AI is threatening to make essay writing a redundant practice.
The gap between what is taught in school and what is needed in the workplace is widening more quickly than most institutions can keep up with. A degree won’t necessarily set you up for success in the workplace of the future. For anybody questioning how to navigate a career without going to college, this is what I’ve learned.
1 – Change is non negotiable
When I was younger, it felt like the world changed between my first and second company. Today, it feels as though it changes week to week.
Adapting quickly is a business advantage. Knowledge is up for grabs in a way it has never been before, and it’s as though everybody is a beginner again. AI has lowered the barrier for non-technical people, and we should see that as an opportunity rather than a threat.
The World Economic Forum reckons that 59% of employees will need to reskill by 2030 due to AI’s influence. The opportunity in such a glaring headline is easy to miss. Every big technological shift will take some skills away, but it will also open up room for new ones. Better to adapt to change than to be replaced.
2 – Build autonomous people, not an autonomous company
My latest venture, Uniplay, runs on AI, but we’re actively hiring humans.
I read every CV myself, and I’m not looking for academic credentials. I’m looking for side projects, for things candidates have built themself, for a willingness to learn beyond academic confines. The people who’ll thrive aren’t necessarily the most experienced or scholarly. They’re the ones who stay curious and keep adapting. Reward creativity. Let your employees dare to make mistakes.
Employees with autonomy operate faster, and don’t need constant clarification. They make better decisions because the vision isn’t abstract to them. Surround yourself with people who can be trusted to make the call when you’re not in the room.
Give your people genuine autonomy to learn, to be creative, and to pursue the things they’re interested in. Your business will grow as your employees do.
Every hire is crucial in a small company. Make sure to employ people who share your vision and your drive. Behaviours can be difficult to change. The team around you ultimately shapes the company in ways you can’t control.
3 – Engagement is the ultimate business metric
The biggest lesson I’ve learned from building companies is that strategy and changing technologies are never as much of a threat as boredom is. Engaged employees outperform disengaged employees every time.
Fun is more serious than most people care to admit. Having fun at work is a driver of performance, rather than a distraction. The best teams I’ve worked with work hard, but they also laugh, compete, experiment, and enjoy the process.
Find ways to keep people enjoying themselves. Replace the slide deck with something interactive. Turn management reviews into team demos. Give people room to grow, and they will pay the company back in kind.
4 – Protect your learning culture
Disengagement is one of the main reasons people leave their jobs. As teams become leaner, retention is more important than ever. The challenge for modern leaders is earning attention, energy, and commitment from their employees.
A strong learning culture is a business’s greatest asset. The everyday habit of people wanting to get better at what they do can keep a company standing when the ground shifts below it. While AI is dating skill sets, too many companies pour money into learning content that nobody wants to open. Last year, American firms spent $102.8bn on corporate learning and achieved little more than teaching their employees to click ‘next’ as fast as possible.
We need learning that moves as fast as technology does. Get that right, and you’ll end up with a workforce that can teach itself whatever comes next.
5 – And finally, never underestimate a beginner
Some of the best people I’ve worked with were the least experienced on paper. They were curious, quick to adapt, and often closer to where the world was heading than the rest of us. Experience matters, but curiosity and a willingness to learn are more important.
We could all learn more from our interns. They’re the people most likely to spot the outdated conventions in your onboarding process, so let them challenge things before bad habits calcify.
Inquisitiveness and grit should be encouraged regardless of age. Taking on the work of not knowing is an attitude that’s necessary in a world of change.
Dare to be a beginner, and teach your team to do the same. I know from my own career that college can’t teach you half the things running a company can.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
Eric Francia is co-founder and CEO of Uniplay, with experience building, exiting, and scaling digital companies across 70 countries. Uniplay is his sixth company to date.
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