The primary difference between academia and industry is the route to success and the degree to which work is structured. When it comes to the route to success, industry typically defines it as bring a product to market that is profitable and innovative. In academia, success is usually defined via the acquisition of funding and generating substantial papers. Industry looks at success in terms of profit and market share. Academia looks at success in terms of developing new ideas and uncovering deeper knowledge. Additionally, work in the industry is highly structured. At the highest levels there is innovation and a bit of “freestyling,” but the vast majority of positions in any major company involved strictly adhering to SOPs and procedure to ensure quality of the products and processes. In academia, there is a much greater deal of flexibility to pursue areas of interests and many different paths to take toward success. While both can be innovative, there is a considerably greater degree of structure to working in the industry.