I think there's two domains in this case, one being "macro luck", the other "micro luck". The rise of the PC, or the fall of the horse buggy are in the former

I think there's two domains in this case, one being "macro luck", the other "micro luck". The rise of the PC, or the fall of the horse buggy are in the former category. They can be influenced, but individual contributions are often insignificant, and predicting their course is very hard. Then there's "micro luck". Things like hiring a great engineer, finding the right investor, or including the right feature or line of copy fall into this category. With these smaller random, but not fully random events you gain the ability to influence the outcome significantly. Want to find great engineers? Move to Silicon Valley, join your LUG, get wasted at DEFCON, these all significantly increase your chances of succeeding at that particular subtask. You get to make significantly more educated guesses at what works and what doesn't. I think this is an important distinction, after which it becomes good practice to follow the advice in the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebur God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference. I'm not particularly religious, but that has always seemed like good sense to me.