Sure, but what's important from college is not education, but credentials. The credit given for having a failed company on your resume is significantly less than for a BA of any sort.

I thought the credentials showed that you had completed the (purportedly valuable) education?

This is less and less the case, as weird as that sounds. I'm finishing my degree not because I'm learning anything, but too many managers (and academics) have point-blank told me they just want to see that I've been "initiated".

If you're not learning anything, that's your own decision. Paying for education is paying for access. If you're paying for access to people that you choose not to interact with, then that's it's own brand of stupid.

I never met any of our professors of journalism or dance. Everyone at college is paying for a bundle of credentials and access to experts in many unrelated fields, and nobody uses all of it.

so signals. If you're talented enough you don't need signals, you just provide value.

So for many people, acquiring signals is a complete waste of time and money.

Sure, it is a form of education, but - being probably much more pessimist than you are - my invented 80 was including BOTH those that tried (with smart ideas and hard work) but failed AND those that wouldn't even try or try without ideas nor working too much hard for it.

I suspect that for the latter ones (how many? maybe 20-30) that wouldn't even be educative at all.

Compared to a rigorous comprehensive education, social development, and near total lack of responsibility, starting a company at 18 is not "good" experience.

18 year olds are idiots (source: was one) and are simply not capable of managing organizations of adult humans.