How should we decide between the conflicting demands and resource drains of startups and Ph.D. programs? This panel discusses some of the current issues facing students, professors and employers, from the panelists' varied perspectives. We do not advocate any one single solution but rather seek to illuminate important issues that affect the CHI community now and will likely continue to do so in the future, both in the US and in other countries promoting high-tech startups as major parts of their economies.