John Mackey, Co-Founder of Whole Foods Market

Before I co-founded Whole Foods Market, I attended two universities, where I accumulated about 120 hours of electives, primarily in philosophy, religion, history, world literature, and other humanities. I only took classes I was interested in, and if a class bored me, I quickly dropped it. Needles to say, with such a self-directed educational strategy, I learned many interesting and valuable things, but ended up with no degree. I never took a single business class. I actually think that worked to my advantage in business over the years. As an entrepreneur, I had nothing to unlearn and new possibilities for innovation. I spent my late teens and early twenties trying to discover the meaning and purpose of my own life.