If start-up activity is the true engine of job creation in America, one thing is clear: our current educational system is acting as the brakes. Simply put, from kindergarten through undergraduate and grad school, you learn very few skills or attitudes that would ever help you start a business.

If you can get people who don't know about you to know about you (marketing), and you can convert them into customers (sales), and once they're customers, you can lead them from point A to point B, you can accomplish anything on the planet

You don't see a lot of MBAs as CEOs. The MBAs tend to get hired by the CEOs.

There's no question that increased formal credentials can give you an advantage. The question is, is it the best advantage you can buy with the amount of money and time you're going to spend?

In my experience, the skill of success breaks down into three things. The skill of marketing. The skill of sales. And the skill of leadership.

Learning is available at the library for free; under a tree with a dog-eared paperback; at a job with a boss who gives you responsibility and mentorship; while traveling; while leading a cause, movement, or charity; while writing a novel or composing a poem or crafting a song; while interning, apprenticing, or volunteering; while playing a sport or immersing yourself in a language; while starting a business; and now, while watching a TED talk or taking a Khan Academy class.

Great brand, no resume - no problem. Great resume, no brand? Welcome to position #347 of the stack of five hundred equally great resumes