Jesse Lipson, B.A. 1999

1999 Major: Philosophy; minor in Economics

How has being a Philosophy graduate from Duke helped shape you personally and/or professionally?

"When I received the Duke coursebook the summer before my freshman year (it was an actual book back then), I was fascinated with the titles of the Philosophy courses and decided then that I wanted to major in Philosophy and potentially pursue a PhD. As I approached my senior year, I decided that graduate work would be too specialized for me and wondered what on Earth I'd do with a Philosophy degree. Ultimately, I joined a small tech startup after school and taught myself computer programming online. I started a tech company called ShareFile, which was acquired by Citrix. ShareFile had over 900 employees and $200M of revenue. Then I started another software company called Levitate, which currently has about 150 employees. I'm one of those people that believes that what you study in college doesn't matter that much with respect to what you do professionally and that you should use your time in college to pursue your interests. I loved all of the great books and papers I read as a Philosophy major at Duke. Although I never figured out the meaning of life, I had fun trying. Philosophy helped me really think from first principles, which has served me well in my career as an entrepreneur. Learning to think, read, and write critically and clearly also applies to almost anything you choose to do professionally and has certainly been valuable for me."

What advice would you give students in Duke's Philosophy programs? 

"Philosophy is one of the smallest, if not the smallest, department in the school. Make friends with the other Philosophy majors and discuss the stuff you're reading outside of class. Invite your professor to lunch to talk about Philosophy. I wish I did that more. But overall, just enjoy the experience. When you're out of school, you won't have much time to revisit the big questions that you're contemplating now."