22-year-old Ivy League graduates lie about dropping out of college to start their tech startup: 'They’re bragging about how they didn’t need college to succeed and influencing younger kids to drop out of school.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Sep 5, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

Over the past year or so, there's been a lot more anti-college education rhetoric creeping into discourse. This is due to a lot of factors, but the rise of AI, tech layoffs, and the unstable vibes of the economy are the big three. You can no longer merely advise young people to pursue a degree that will supposedly make them a lot of money, such as Computer Science, because Computer Science graduates are struggling to get jobs as we speak. Nobody knows if AI will be a bubble that bursts in a couple of years or will be the reason that we are underemployed for the rest of our lives. In a world as uncertain as this, spending thousands of dollars on a college education might seem like a risk that won't pay off.

Is it true that college degrees are virtually worthless and are now the equivalent of high school diplomas? Probably not, but that's a compelling talking point for young people who don't want to attend college but feel pressured by their parents. There's something to be said for selling the idea that trades are the only way to ensure job security to young people. It's the same rhetoric touted 15 years ago about college ("If you don't get at least a bachelor's degree, you'll be flipping burgers"), but merely with a different vocational path attached. But you have to wonder, are the people who are advocating for young people to go into trades going into trades themselves? Or are they going to college and encouraging their kids to do the same, because they don't really believe what they're saying? 

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  • The young men in this story are profiting from the notion that college is worthless, despite their own college attendance.

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    Cheezburger Image 10550784512
    via Andrej Lišakov (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    Am I the bad guy for calling out my friend who pretends he dropped out of our Ivy League university?

    My friend (22M) is a rising star in the startup world. He raised a significant round of venture capital money and has gone viral several times for his tech.
    via u/DevelopmentAfraid733
  • 03
    He has also amassed a whole following of wannabe tech bros on LinkedIn and other spaces who admire him. The problem is him and his co-founder are both lying calling themselves Ivy League dropouts, when they actually graduated. They're
    via u/DevelopmentAfraid733
  • 04
    bragging about how they didn't need college to succeed, comparing themselves to Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, and influencing younger kids to drop out of school.
    via u/DevelopmentAfraid733
  • 05
    The Une of And the inte Jade Thrive
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    In reality, they built their startup on the back on our school's generous resources. All of their early financial support and access to tech has come from our school's startup incubator and tech labs. And they did graduate. I walked across the stage with them in May and watched them get their diplomas.
    via u/DevelopmentAfraid733
  • 07
    But now they're online bragging about how they're Ivy League dropouts because they took a semester off two years ago to focus on their startup. So I called them out on social media and said my friend is lying to his fans and promoting anti-education nonsense, when he actually built his whole startup off our college's resources. That ignited a whole
    via u/DevelopmentAfraid733
  • 08
    Cheezburger Image 10550787072
    via Andrej Lišakov (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 09
    social media sh storm of people arguing on my friend's page, and he's since been saying I'm just jealous of him and that it is inconsequential whether he dropped out or not. AITA?
    via u/DevelopmentAfraid733
  • 10
    Atomic1impact ΝΤΑ Shot, if you're feeling extra petty, find the graduation video of that year and post it with a timestamp. If it didn't matter whether he graduated or not, then he wouldn't be spewing how he's a dropout in the first place.
    via u/At0mic1impact
  • 11
    HoundstoothReader This could almost be a meme. Every interview and SM post with the drop-out claim immediately gets a reply image with the dude grinning in his cap and gown plus a link to the school's startup incubator. Love it.
    via u/HoundstoothReader
  • 12
    Lvna Rose nah, you're totally NTA. dude's out here straight up lying and hyping himself up off a fake story, influencing people the wrong way. calling him out was the right move, even if it caused some internet chaos.
    via u/LvnaRose
  • 13
    TheWidowAustero2 Out them before they con people out of a lot of money and time.
    via u/TheWidowAustero2
  • 14
    Maltiriel NTA. If it were actually inconsequential then he wouldn't be talking about it all the time and it wouldn't have kicked off a social media sh storm. Very clearly it matters both to him and to his fans.
    via u/Maltiriel
  • 15
    Also your friend (former friend?) is shockingly lacking in common sense to lie about something that's so easy to disprove. This kind of scandal is what social media thrives on these days and although they say there's no such thing as bad publicity, I don't think that's true when it comes to a startup depending on VC funding. Scandals and lies have taken down other startups.
    via u/Maltiriel
  • 16
    Sshank96 NTA. Most success stories are always like this, fabricated and a far stretch from the truth. This in return gives people false hope or assumptions.
    via u/Sshank96
  • 17
    Organic_Gap3112 YTA. Not sure why you felt the need to get involved in something that has absolutely nothing to do with you. Does sound a bit like jealousy
    via u/Organic_Gap3112
  • 18
    cheekypoo1 They're influencing others to drop out. If that is true, they have an obligation to call them out. Get your head out your a and consider being a good person every now and then
    via u/cheekypoo1
  • 19
    darknessinthelight8 ESH. That's a weird thing to lie about and yeah they shouldn't have. Did you talk to them about it before you outed them online? I guess that's kind of a move regardless.
    via u/darknessinthelight8
  • 20
    zannet_t It'd be just "a weird thing to lie about" if they were only lying in private. But it becomes a harmful thing to lie about if they relied on their education and resources to achieve something while simultaneously encouraging others to not get the same education and resources.
    via u/zannet_t
  • 21
    darknessinthelight8 It is most definitely harmful. I do think OP could have talked to them first though and give them the opportunity to come clean. I mean weird as in, sure it's admirable if you build a successful business without having a related education but it's just as admirable to graduate and get your diploma. The truth, them taking time to focus on the startup and then still putting in the work to graduate, imo is the most impressive.
    via u/darknessinthelight8
  • 22
    phunkjnky ΝΤΑ Please ask him online how him lying about dropping out isn't lying. Then ask him if his investors are cool with him lying.
    via u/phunkjnky
  • 23
    No_Sort3021 NTA FWIW if someone is raising serious money on the back of a misleading personal narrative, and you can prove it, you should tell a journalist.
    via u/No_Sort3021
  • 24
    AtmosphereFull2017 Whether or not you're the AH, don't continue to call him a "friend." I doubt he'll ever use that word again to describe you.
    via u/AtmosphereFull2017
  • 25
    NSightMSG NTA. Lying on a resume is illegal. Lying to your audience is misleading and immoral. While he's not doing anything illegal, he needs to be honest about what he's doing.
    via u/NSightMSG

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