Implicit in your description of the different paths you and your friends have taken is an important fact: everyone's path to success is different. So is their definition of success.
Dropouts have made it. Dropouts have failed. People who stayed in school have made it. People who have stayed in school have failed.
Ultimately having conviction about what is right for you and not wavering with the startup flavor of the day sounds like it will serve you well. It may lead to a different path of success if these other opportunities involving you dropping out pan out well for those companies that you could have been a part of. But it in no way does it preclude future success or suggest that you won't have your own homerun later. Excellent self-aware post, Dan.
Dropouts have made it. Dropouts have failed. People who stayed in school have made it. People who have stayed in school have failed.
Ultimately having conviction about what is right for you and not wavering with the startup flavor of the day sounds like it will serve you well. It may lead to a different path of success if these other opportunities involving you dropping out pan out well for those companies that you could have been a part of. But it in no way does it preclude future success or suggest that you won't have your own homerun later. Excellent self-aware post, Dan.