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You just want to world to recognize you as "having merit" and give you money? You want to be successful, but are unwilling to make any sort of effort? Create s
by paul 17y ago
You just want to world to recognize you as "having merit" and give you money? You want to be successful, but are unwilling to make any sort of effort?
Create something remarkable and people with money will find you.
- seiji 17y agoI see how it can be read that way. By "merit," I meant actual accomplishments and not some ethereal quality of a person or group just sitting idle. I'm glad you chimed in though because you're one of the cases that kind-of fits the model above. From a complete outsider's point of view, it looks like friends giving friends tens of millions of dollars for nebulous reasons. * Disclaimer: Text is a poor medium of communication and usually comes across more hostile in the reader's eyes than intended. There is much levity here.
- paul 17y agoWhat am I a case of?
- marshallp 17y agoinsider dealing
- paul 17y agoHow so?
- marshallp 17y agoI'm not implying that you were engaged in anything shady, but your success with friendfeed, you have to admit, was more than the sum of your technical/marketing talent, having friends in high places has to have come into it somewhere, no?
- paul 17y agoNot really -- we didn't know the Facebook team all that well. Your argument would make more sense if we had sold to Google, but even then it would be false. If your point is that people can build future success on top of past success, yes obviously that is true, but there is nothing wrong with that. It means that you need to work at it for a while and not expect people to simply hand you whatever you want because of some imagined "merit". Edit (because there's not reply link for some reason): Where do you think reputation comes from? You have to start by doing something, and over time if you keep doing things that makes you more valuable.
- marshallp 17y agoWell it's not exactly "Create something remarkable and people with money will find you." then. More like 'create something remarkable and have enough reputation or schmoozing ability, and be in the right geograhic area'. Even the 'remarkable' thing is not entirely true. I don't think facebook or microsoft were remarkable, for example, they just hit the right combination of luck and skill at execution. Google on the other hand, was an example of something remarkable when it first appeared.
- andreyf 17y agoI'm tempted to thow out the over-quoted "luck favors the prepapred mind". Yes, Microsoft lucked out when Bill Gates' mom was a boardmember of IBM, but they certainly took full advantage of it, and their many other opportunities - most of which came with having a more accurate understanding of their market than others. What might seem like luck to the inexperienced mind is usually a well executed strategy in line with a superior model. All in all, though, I think it wise to hold yourself responsible for your accomplishments - both geographic location and your circle of acquaintances is something you have significant control over.
- marshallp 17y agoI don't think you can attribute Bill Gates to superior understanding and execution, at 50/100 million or even 500 million, but getting to 100 billion at one point, I don't buy it. Is Bill Gates really that much smarter than the rest of us. The same can be said for most people that's over 10 million I reckon. "All in all, though, I think it wise to hold yourself responsible for your accomplishments - both geographic location and your circle of acquaintances is something you have significant control over." I agree in spirit, but the reality is different. Yes. -if you're a white/asian male -born to middle class parents -and you're parents emphasized education -and good nutrition/genes so that you grow to above average height -and that you go to a good college -and can fit in with the right crowd yes, you simply move to silicon valley/manhattan/london and fit right in. IF you're a black man from a poor single parent family in small town mississippi, or the daughter of a farmer from a village in bangladesh, things are much more difficult.
- axod 17y agoSurely that assumes people with money are good at spotting 'worth'...
- paul 17y agoThat problem exists regardless. Who can truly judge "merit"? However, investing has a built-in selective pressure. The people who are good at spotting things that will make money get more money -- the ones that aren't good at it lose money.
- drusenko 17y agoWell, making lots of money is an easy indicator... Otherwise, you make the best bets you can.