I dropped out of King’s College London and made £1 million before turning 19

Harry Stebbings, a former KCL student, has spoken out about how dropping out of university meant he was able to make his first million before turning 19.

Speaking to The Times, Harry explained, after Freshers’ Week and a fortnight of lectures, he knew university wasn’t for him.

Harry started KCL in autumn 2015. Describing his university experience as “pointless,” he decided to leave, instead throwing himself into the investment podcast he had started in January that year. His set-up was just a cheap microphone in his bedroom in Fulham. He would his mum to unplug the landline so he did not sound unprofessional.

He still hosts this podcast today. The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), offers advice and analysis on investments and tech, and has reached more than 100 million downloads. He has hosted guests like OpenAI chief Sam Altman and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

Harry launched 20VC, a venture capital firm, which has raised more than $4oo million. Through this, he is now one of Europe’s top tech investors. By age 20, he had made £1 million.

He said it is “criminally sad that we send the majority of our smart children to university in the UK. They could be engaged in the most productive years of their life. Instead they’re languishing in lecture theatres.”

Harry firmly believes that almost all skills, from tech to investment and marketing, can be learnt online, rather than at university.

Harry Stebbings dropped out of his law course at King’s College London

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“The university curriculum cannot keep up,” he said. “In computer science and engineering, for example, AI updates faster than the university programme can update itself. I wouldn’t want brain surgery from a doctor who’d learnt from YouTube, but for almost all other work, degrees are irrelevant.”

At 29, Harry lives in Marylebone, in central London, and takes home “seven figures” while employing 19 people in his VC firm.

His success comes at a time where students are struggling to find post-graduate jobs, and even work experience like internships while at university. With the current economic climate, and evolution of AI, the number of jobs offered to university leavers by Britain’s top employers has fallen by almost a quarter in the past three years and is forecast to plunge further, according to High Fliers Research.

KCL students are definitely feeling this struggle. In a survey conducted by The King’s Tab, students reported feeling stressed about finding graduate roles after university, especially after struggling to land internships while in their current studies.

Harry’s success highlights how alternative paths outside university can sometimes offer faster, more practical routes to success than traditional degrees.

The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.

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Featured image via Instagram @hstebbings1996 and Unsplash