My wife and I do have Tiger Parent tendencies, but this article shows that there are other routes to success:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/t...hool-to-get-serious-about-start-ups.html
Before Tumblr, Founder Made Mom Proud. He Quit School.
By JENNA WORTHAM and NICK BILTON
New York Times
May 20, 2013

Quote
When David Karp was 14, he was clearly a bright teenager. Quiet, somewhat reclusive, bored with his classes at the Bronx High School of Science. He spent most of his free time in his bedroom, glued to his computer.

But instead of trying to pry him away from his machine or coaxing him outside to get some fresh air, his mother, Barbara Ackerman, had another solution: she suggested that he drop out of high school to be home-schooled.

“I saw him at school all day and absorbed all night into his computer,” said Ms. Ackerman, reached by phone Monday afternoon. “It became very clear that David needed the space to live his passion. Which was computers. All things computers.”

Clearly.

Now 26 years old, Mr. Karp never finished high school or enrolled in college. Instead, he played a significant role in several technology start-ups before founding Tumblr, the popular blogging service that agreed to be sold to Yahoo for $1.1 billion this week. With an expected $250 million from the deal, Mr. Karp joins a tiny circle of 20-something entrepreneurs, hoodie-wearing characters like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley, who have struck it rich before turning 30.
On average, of course, high school dropouts are less successful than high school graduates, who are less successful than college graduates. How much freedom to give to teenagers is an interesting question.

"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." - George Orwell