We are a couple of nobody's trying to build something from nothing and the odds are we will fail. However, in order to even have a chance at succeeding, we need to have everything staked on this. I gave up a Ph.D. in physics today and I did it because I had to.

I did a lot of great things (two trips to the South Pole) so I'll never regret it, but I'm a shell of the personality I used to be. Basically, I had been languishing in school and had gotten comfortable with mediocrity. Maybe only physics grad students will understand this, but when you are a student in your mid 20's you live apart from society. Everybody's life moves forward but you are in this open-ended thing that keeps you poor and without natural social contact. Last summer I started counting the number of girls I would interact with on a daily basis and it was usually less than three - counting the coffee girl at Strada. Needless to say, dropping out of grad school is something I had been thinking about for a while.

The reason I chose today to drop out was because of a conversation I had with pg last week. He said bluntly that Octopart's chances of getting funding were worse if I stayed in grad school. He wasn't trying to convince me to leave, he was just stating a simple fact. It shows my naivete that I hadn't even considered it. Once I realized that we might not be funded if I kept delaying the inevitable I started to think more about what I wanted to happen with Octopart. Then the calculation became simple - if I want Octopart to succeed I have to dedicate absolutely everything to it. I realized that Friday and quit Tuesday (long weekend).

I have no money, no job, no health insurance, and no idea if we are actually going to succeed but at least I'm fully committed to something I care about.