[superbcarrot]

> It’s still not clear to me a person of this cadre need a PhD in a technical field in this day and age; they might contribute just as much faster if they chose any other route.

They might be able to contribute technically but they might not be given the opportunity to do so if they don't have a PhD.

[ramraj07]

In hard sciences that might be true but I doubt it’s necessary in tech - see George Hotz.

[superbcarrot]

Hotz is kind of doing his own thing at comma.ai. If I founded my own company, I'm sure they would hire me for anything that I applied for.