5 Reasons Why Philosophy Majors Make Great Entrepreneurs

When accomplished entrepreneurs like Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel and Carly Fiorina credit their philosophy backgrounds for their success, you have to wonder if they're on to something.

There's an age old stereotype that philosophy majors are unemployable; the joke goes something like this:

The engineering graduate asks, "How does it work?"

The law school graduate asks, "Is it legal?"

The philosophy graduate asks, "Would you like fries and a Coke with that?"

Sure, it's funny -- but is it true?


The numbers say no. In fact, only 5 percent of recent philosophy grads struggle to find jobs. And when accomplished entrepreneurs like Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel and Carly Fiorina credit their philosophy backgrounds for their success, you have to wonder if they're on to something.

After all, many of the same qualities that make a good entrepreneur are the same qualities that make a good philosopher. Both occupations require clear communication, critical thinking and the ability to sell your ideas. And while these are just a few skills that entrepreneurs share with philosophers, there are many more valuable lessons that founders and CEOs can learn from this ancient yet timeless discipline.
Here are five reasons why philosophy majors make great entrepreneurs.


1. They love of debate.
One important skill that all philosophy majors learn is the ability to follow an argument all the way to the end. It's a valuable skill if you're running a meeting or sitting in front of potential investors. Healthy debate becomes more important when your business starts to grow and
you've got more stakeholders; in fact, debate is often the key to finding the most effective course of action. One way to add value to your business is to implement an open debate policy and encourage your employees -- no matter what level they are -- to share a different point of view or contest decisions that they don't agree with.
Remember, you're not trying to win arguments
("be right", rather, you're trying to find the best
path forward ("get it right".

2. They're comfortable with the uncomfortable.
As an entrepreneur, you'll have to make decisions on issues that aren't always black and white. That means you'll have to get comfortable working in an environment where there are few guarantees. For most people, it's a steep learning curve, but for students of philosophy, ambiguity is nothing new. Philosophy teaches you to manage that uncertainty and stay calm.

As an entrepreneur, you're always, in the words of Walt Whitman, "conquering, holding, daring, venturing." You'll likely spend a lot of your time in the great unknown, so you'll need to be able to tolerate ambiguity. Next time you find yourself at a fork in the road, think about making a decision with 51 percent confidence. While it's not ideal, it's far better than waiting for solutions
that never present themselves.

3. They see the big picture in the smallest details.
If you can't see the big picture, you could end up pursuing ideas that don't go anywhere. It's easy to get sidetracked by details and suddenly find yourself in the weeds. A philosophy background is invaluable here as it helps you envision how smaller decisions will eventually fit into bigger ones and how your offerings will help your company down the line. One way to ensure that you're always on the right track is to step back and ask yourself how new features might fit into your broader product offerings or how minor tweaks might affect your future expansion plans.



4. They keep their emotions in check.
It's important to have a passion for what you do, but you never want to confuse enthusiasm with capability. In philosophy, you learn to detach from your emotions and make decisions with sound logic. As an entrepreneur, that's a valuable lesson, since it's easy to fall in love with a new idea or product, especially if you've already invested a lot of time or money into it, and overlook obvious flaws. If you find yourself falling head over heels for a new project, ask yourself if you're really taking the best approach or ask someone else to provide a second opinion on whether or not you're moving in the right direction.


5. They dissect complex problems.
Albert Einstein famously said, "If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions." This quote highlights a skill that philosophy majors have to master: the.ability to break down complex problems into simpler ones. As an entrepreneur, you'll have to solve complex problems early and often. You'll
have a leg up if you can break them down into digestible pieces, rather than trying to solve them all at once.

While entrepreneurs can benefit from a number of different backgrounds, many of the traits that make great business leaders are shared by philosophers around the world. So the next time you find yourself struggling with a complex problem or in a situation where there's no clear solution, take a step back, swap out Carnegie for Plato, and try and look at things from the perspective of a philosophy major.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/5-reasons-why-philosophy-majors-make-great-entrepreneurs/295699

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Some of the famous people with degree in philosophy

William Jefferson Clinton (former US President)

George Soros (money manager, Soros Foundation)

Gerald Levin (CEO, Time-Warner, Inc.) Pierre Trudeau (former Canadian Prime Minister)

Peter Lynch (headed Fidelity’s Magellan fund)


Carleton ‘Carly’ Fiorina (CEO of Helwett-Packard)

Peter Thiel (co-founded PayPal, hedge fund manager)

Patrick M. Byrne (CEO of Overstock.com)

Stewart Butterfield (co-founder of Flickr)

Ahmet Ertegun (founder, Atlantic Records)

Marko Ahtisaari (Senior Vice-President of Design, Nokia)

Funny enough, Reno Omokri is not known to have a high institution's qualification anywhere

Which kind man will go to university to study that useless course called Philosopghy? How will they ever make money with such course? Please are there any successful philosopher here nairaland? If yes, how then are you making your money?

Reno is a lawyer who is so bad he doesn't practice his profession.

Reno is a pastor who is so bad he pastors no church.

Reno is a politician who is so bad that his only political position is an aide to an aide. He is also so bad a politician that he never contests but only blow trumpets for some other contestants even while all his hairs are turning white.

Reno is a political PR agent who is so bad he keeps campaigning for an opponent he hates so much! I wonder why this old man doesn't realize this.

Reno is a gospeller who is so bad he campaigns for a fellow who deleted his hypocritic condemnation of the murder of an innocent Christian girl. Yet, Reno pretends to speak for Leah Sharibu.

Reno claims to be very faithful to Goodluck Jonathan. Yet, he is campaigning so assiduously for the person who ruined Jonathan the most.

All corrupt people are afraid of a Peter Obi Presidency - which explains Reno's obsession.

Please, let's be really out to fight and defeat these despicable desperate evil forces. See this https://twitter.com/MastBroadcast/status/1578923986804625409?t=w6VM12x_KfxYGDOOPZ3AUg&s=19

Rozross:
Which kind man will go to university to study that useless course called Philosopghy? How will they ever make money with such course? Please are there any successful philosopher here nairaland? If yes, how then are you making your money?

All these people mentioned by the article can buy all the companies in your state.

No body takes Reno Omokri serious.
He has been on self inflicted exile in the US since 2015

Rozross:
Which kind man will go to university to study that useless course called Philosopghy? How will they ever make money with such course? Please are there any successful philosopher here nairaland? If yes, how then are you making your money?

I honestly think that you may need brain transplant. The way you think is terrible. This article is from a globally renowned and respected opinion platform. The op also gave us loads of examples to support his point... Yet, you came right under the post to talk this thrash!

dumahi:

I honestly think that you may need brain transplant. The way you think is terrible. This article is from a globally renowned and respected opinion platform. The op also gave us loads of examples to support his point... Yet, you came right under the post to talk this thrash!

If you had sense you'll know i didnt read but the heading. Yeye man

Rozross:
If you had sense you'll know i didnt read but the heading. Yeye man

Sense man, high BP.

dumahi:

Sense man, high BP.

Are you a philosopher

Degree without sense.

Rozross:
Are you a philosopher

Rozross Rozross
Come take your own zero
Rozross Rozross
Even you can be a hero

Who takes Reno serious



A fool that doesn't know that all genre of studies emanated from philosophy?

Peter Obi was running business as a student. He bought his car with his own money at Umeano Motors Nsukka in those days. What makes Reno think he is interested in looking for job after school?

Rozross:
If you had sense you'll know i didnt read but the heading. Yeye man

Stop disgracing yourself...

So many educated illiterates...

A discipline that spurned Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Confucius, Immanuel Kant, John Locke, Soren Kirkegaard and numerous geniuses who shaped civilisation is what misguided elements are jesting with....

Most people can't read to save their lives...

Rozross:
Which kind man will go to university to study that useless course called Philosopghy? How will they ever make money with such course? Please are there any successful philosopher here nairaland? If yes, how then are you making your money?

Chai, we have lot's of children on Nairaland. I have always maintained that Obi's choice of discipline prepared him for what he is now, a serial successful entrepreneur, successful politician and a great family man. Pray to be like Obi

Reno Mockery is an epitome of a fool.

Reno is an educated illiterate, I pity those children here seeing him as their role model