The Hidden Cost of Saying “Degrees Are Overrated”

Every few years, a successful entrepreneur declares that degrees are overrated.

The statement is attractive, especially to young people. It suggests that talent matters more than credentials and that success is available to anyone willing to work hard.

But there is a hidden cost in this advice that is rarely discussed.

Take Kunal Shah as an example.

Kunal has often challenged traditional ideas about education and careers. Yet, to build the credibility he enjoys today, he did not simply skip a degree and walk into a leadership role at a global technology company.

Instead, he spent years building startups, raising capital, convincing investors, leading teams, surviving failures, and creating products used by millions of people.

In other words, he replaced a degree with something much harder.

Degrees Are Signals

A degree is fundamentally a signal.

It tells employers, investors, and society that a person has completed a structured program, acquired foundational knowledge, and demonstrated persistence over several years.

Is it a perfect signal? No.

Does it guarantee success? Absolutely not.

But it reduces uncertainty.

For most people, a degree is one of the most efficient ways to signal capability and potential.

Entrepreneurship Is Also a Signal

Entrepreneurship is another signal—but a much stronger and more expensive one.

When an entrepreneur builds a successful company, the market validates their capability.

Customers buy the product.

Investors fund the vision.

Employees choose to follow the leader.

Results become the credential.

This kind of signal is difficult to fake.

However, it comes with enormous risk, uncertainty, stress, and years of effort.

For every successful entrepreneur, thousands fail without receiving the same recognition.

The Hidden Cost of Rejecting Degrees

Many young professionals hear successful founders say, "Degrees don't matter."

What often gets missed is that these founders replaced degrees with extraordinary achievements.

A degree can be earned in four years.

Building a company that serves millions may take a decade.

A degree costs time and tuition.

Entrepreneurship can cost years of income, stability, and emotional energy.

The question is not whether degrees matter.

The real question is:

What are you replacing the degree with?

Survivorship Bias

We hear from successful founders because they succeeded.

We rarely hear from equally talented people whose startups failed.

For every entrepreneur who becomes a household name, there are countless others who worked just as hard but never received the same outcome.

When we only study winners, we risk drawing the wrong conclusions.

My Take

Kunal Shah's journey does not prove that degrees are useless.

It proves that the market rewards credible signals.

A degree is a signal.

Entrepreneurship is a signal.

Years of exceptional professional achievement are a signal.

The mistake many people make is hearing that degrees are overrated and concluding that credentials don't matter.

Credentials always matter.

The only question is which credential you choose.

A degree is one form of proof.

A successful company is another.

Years of outstanding work are another.

The irony is that to avoid one signal, Kunal Shah had to build an even stronger one.

Because degrees are not mandatory.

But credibility is.

And credibility must always be earned.