Do You Want to Be Right or Do you Want to Win: Why Academics Suck at Business

I’ve learned a few things after being in the tech industry since 1999, as an operator in startups and big tech, a venture capitalist and since then as a business owner and a general investor.  It’s 2025 and the gap between theory and practicality is wider than it has ever been. 

I actually grew up in an academic household. Academia is a world where being right and having the right answer is important. With a big focus on getting the right answer. Credentials and degrees matter. Doubly important in an Asian immigrant family that lives by unspoken Confucian values of scholars and seniority being at the top. And the longer you stay in academia, the harder it is to shake these broken beliefs. 

But sadly in a time of great change and practical sphere like business these are incredibly dangerous cultural traits. And it’s taken me a lifetime to unwind some of the impractical ideas and culture of an academic upbringing. 

In business, the market is dynamic, good ideas can come from anywhere, experts are usually wrong and credentials are not valued. That is why the best business leaders are curious and inquisitive and understand they don’t always have the answer. They solicit feedback and at the same time are decisive and take action. This is a world where questions are more important. 

When I first started doing media sales at Yahoo! It was a great wake up call. It doesn’t matter what theories or how great you think your ideas are, the question is do you close the deal and get the money. It’s pretty black and white. You hit your quarter or you don’t. The client buys your product or they don’t. The feedback loop is pretty fast and strong. And if you want to get good you listen quickly and adapt your strategy and tactics accordingly. Or else you don’t hit your number. The most important part of sales is asking questions, not talking. 

I’ve learned to distrust good students. All that you have shown me if you get straight As in school or go to a top tier school is that you have a high IQ and probably also know how to follow orders. You will probably make a good lieutenant. But that’s about it. 

I don’t know anything about your work ethic and whether you have common sense. Give me someone PSD: Poor Smart with Deep desire to get rich anytime and day. I’d take that over a PhD anyday. And don’t get me started about MBAs which are only useful if you want to get into corporate America, Investment Banking/PE and Consulting. They are totally useless for startups.

Universities and colleges are failing young people. They have become leftist woke madrassas that are teaching young people broken ideologies and stupid ideas instead of debate and critical thinking. Peter Thiel was far ahead of our times by his Thiel Fellowship program that paid young smart students to drop out of University and start companies. The only exceptions for academics are in Deep-tech and Biotech, you kind of need to have that strong research and literal deep knowledge of the sector (energy, quantum, biology, chemical or material sciences).

So if you want to thrive in the business world, learn to question everything and learn to ask good questions. Yes, answers are important, but asking questions is even more important when you are starting. Codie Sanchez says: “The ones who collect the most knowledge have the most unfair advantage.”