[Soerensen]

Definitely possible. I dropped out at 16 and now run a startup after leading growth at Revolut.

The key differentiator for non-degree candidates: demonstrated results over credentials. Build something people can see - a side project, open source contribution, or portfolio piece that shows you can ship.

Three things that worked for me:

1. Start in adjacent roles. My path was athlete → operations → marketing → growth → founder. Each step built skills that compounded.

2. Over-index on learning velocity. Companies hiring non-degree candidates are betting you can learn fast. Show evidence of this - rapid skill acquisition, self-taught domains, etc.

3. Target companies that value output over pedigree. Startups and scale-ups tend to care more about what you can do than where you studied. The larger and more established the company, the more the degree matters as a filtering mechanism.

The current market is tougher than 5 years ago, but the fundamental truth remains: if you can demonstrably solve problems that companies need solved, someone will pay you to do it.