[coldtea]

>My favorite example of this is a Chinese friend who cashed out of a startup for $22 million but is still a failure because he didn't get a college degree.

In such a consumerist society as the Chinese, I doubt many average Chinese consider someone with $22 million "a failure".

That could be some academically educated relatives and friends considering him a failure, sure.

But then again that could (and has been) the case in families with heavy academic backgrounds in the US too, where the doctors / university professors / etc for a couple generations parents look down upon the mere "entrepreneur" kid.