What is your educational background and do you recommend studying computer science?
I studied behavioral neuroscience, not computer science. After my door‑to‑door marketing business shut down during COVID, I taught myself computer science using free resources like teachyourselfcs.com, books, and lectures, completing a typical CS curriculum in about six months. I found that self‑teaching gave me practical, applicable knowledge faster than a traditional degree, which often includes many irrelevant courses. While a CS degree can be helpful, understanding behavior and psychology has been more valuable for my work, and today you can learn everything you need with AI assistance.
I would not leave college. If you’ve already made progress, don’t drop out. College offers valuable social experiences, relationships, and learning opportunities that you can’t fully replace online. While you can learn the technical material through courses at home, the networking and personal growth aspects are important. My recommendation is to use college mainly for the social side, and once you’ve built a solid foundation, you can start skipping non‑essential classes. Focus on the parts that add value and treat the rest as optional. This way you get the best of both worlds without sacrificing your education entirely.
Yes, you absolutely need some form of social proof. Without it, it's hard to win because anyone can claim they can do something, but few can point to something they've actually delivered. The work you do becomes your biggest differentiator—far more valuable than flowery language in a proposal, which no longer matters now that AI can generate polished text for everyone. You don't have to build a project for a client to get proof. You can create something for your own business or a side project that adds value, then say, 'I built this for myself,' or 'I built this for an IT company.' It's really just about being resourceful. Regarding self‑studying computer science through 'Teach Yourself CS': I don't think it's still relevant, but I like the idea. I was reminded by a friend named Arturo that talking about the fact that you never took a programming degree resonates with people, so I'm going to weave that into my own content.
I started with Harvard CS50, then taught myself computer science from the ground up, excluding languages and compilers, distributed systems, and operating systems. I completed nanotech to Tetris, building a computer from scratch. After that, I learned AI from scratch via a course that just listed introductory material, then I began training models—first a TensorFlow model called Stalan 2 that generated faces, then Gwarn's 'This Wu Does Not Exist' which I turned into an anime face generator, which I found hilarious and turned into a business called One Second Painting. I scaled that to about $3,500 per month by selling AI-generated art, but Midjourney's release destroyed that business. I had been selling NFTs, which gave me hands‑on AI experience. I then used that experience to freelance write while aiming for $10k/month, employing GPT‑3 for content. I also spent six months to a year locked in my room learning make.com and Zapier, building automations for my One Second Painting business and later for a second venture with a business partner. Eventually the money came from disproportionate time invested, leading to a compressed business model: get your first customer quickly, then worry about everything later. I realized most of the low‑level AI skills I learned aren’t used today, but the practical experience with automation platforms like make.com and Zapier, plus building info products, allowed me to scale to $100k/month through a blend of an AI automation agency and information products.
Yes, I still recommend learning tools like Make and N8N. The simplest way to get work as a total newbie is to sign up on platforms like Upwork and apply for jobs that require those tools. Learning N8N instantly opens a massive pool of jobs—there are dozens posted every hour. The same goes for Make.com, and even Claude Code has a market. Once you know the basics, you can pitch N8N, Make, or any other automation in your proposals. It doesn’t take long to become fluent; a 4‑to‑6‑hour course can get you up to speed. Think of it like unlocking new areas in a video game—the fog of war lifts after you spend a few hours studying the visual workflow. These tools are visual, so your brain can grasp them faster than raw code, and they also train you to think in systems, which later helps you prompt AI models like Claude. You don’t need a CS degree—just a few focused hours and you’ll have a marketable skill that feeds directly into AI agency work.