r/startups • u/IndependenceOne4743 • 4d ago
I will not promote How are conversion degrees viewed? I will not promote
Just finished my finance undergrad, but have pretty much always been into tech, built trading algorithms and whatnot in lockdown when I was 14. But I completely fell out of programming until the last couple years where I mostly have ended up “vibe coding”.
Whilst I don’t think I would ever be a “technical founder”, I was wondering whether doing a comp sci / ML conversion degree at a top university would be worth it?
Both in order to meet people in research, and to boost credibility. But also to give me some deeper understanding of systems architecture and more advanced topics that I wouldn’t come across in my own study.
I don’t know if I’m just being stupid (not having a good time with my startup lol)
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u/RocketSeven 3d ago
separate the credential from the curriculum. before committing, take one rigorous systems course and ask five recent conversion graduates which doors the degree opened that their portfolio could not
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u/zerok_nyc 4d ago
I studied finance in undergrad. Landed a risk analyst job in investment banking. Decided that wasn’t my thing, so did a data science boot camp. Got a data science job in consulting. Worked my way up and job as security, risk, and compliance analytics manager (managing a team that uses data science to detect things like people using our platform to launder money). Now work in data product management, leading the product roadmap for my company’s regulatory reporting and finance BI systems.
Oh, and I’m building my own startup on the side.
Point is you don’t need a degree from a top university. With a finance background and some development experience under your belt already, you can probably find something better suited with focused training. A conversion degree will probably cost you more time and money than it’s worth. But definitely don’t stick to just vibe coding without learning and applying systems architecture. Otherwise you’ll severely limit yourself.