A lot of these seem to be about getting accepted into some high-achieving organizations, which will open up further opportunities. This is clearly very importan

A lot of these seem to be about getting accepted into some high-achieving organizations, which will open up further opportunities. This is clearly very important. I would suggest one strategy to do this which involves startups: MAKE A STARTUP THAT YOU ARE GOING TO FLIP Once you have the mindset that you are going to exit in a few years instead of building the next google, you'll project many of the attitudes investors are looking for. Even if you have a huge idea that you're working on, don't bring it up when you talk about your smaller, flippable idea. Even better if technology or user base you developed in the "world changing" project can be used to give the flippable idea a big boost, making it seem to be making amazing leaps (which is actually true). Give away as much equity as you need to the most well-connected people who want to get involved. Network your way using the startup as the reason for everyone to cluster around. In short, build your own little organization, and attract people by selling to them exactly what they are looking for. Don't be greedy with the equity because your goal isn't to make huge amounts of money on the exit (even though you could every well exit with millions or a golden parachute) but to open doors and make connections. Many startups eschew this route because they feel they must focus only on their world-changing business, and as a result, they miss all the low hanging fruit they could be getting.