I dropped out of UCLA when a startup founder asked for help building his product. School had never worked for me anyway. I wanted to learn what interested me, not whatever came next on the syllabus. Got laid off post dot-com bust. With no degree and the economy in tatters, my entire pitch was: I know Python, and I will say yes to any job that lets me write it. Found a place and worked there for four years. The company went from 4 people to 25 and got acquired. And it all worked out from…