Something appealing about Silicon Valley was that losers like me could bust ass and really make a big difference and get rich on the way. You just needed to hac

Something appealing about Silicon Valley was that losers like me could bust ass and really make a big difference and get rich on the way. You just needed to hack and hustle. Apple was the model. Two weirdos building and selling really cool stuff. Relatively simple business model: make things, and sell them. If you read the history of Apple, in the early days they hired straight up nerds and dropouts and bizarre people. One of the early guys who ended up designing hardware was self-taught and pulled in from the janitorial staff or mailroom or something like that. Finally a "legitimate" way to make a career for oddballs who would not be able to get an interview for a job cleaning toilets at Goldman Sachs. It's a very different world now where Ivy League overachievers are writing blog posts about choosing between startups and investment banking. Google is the new model. From a weirdo outsider's perspective the Google era startup story sounds very similar to the investment banking path, with a few keywords switched here and there. Elite educations, maybe going all the way back to Montessori school. Please list your GPA and take this quiz for a chance at a week long interview hazing session. Operate under the context of "changing the world" but stay focused on maximizing return in the markets of eyeballs, clicks, keywords and ads. Complicated business models; make something which you don't sell and makes no money, but the data can be packaged into a new form of financial instrument for the online ad market. Sell off the thing in a couple years for a few mil, buy an Audi, try to do it again. Goal is to ultimately hit it big enough so that you can avoid building stuff entirely. Dream about ultimately becoming an investor yourself, coaching other type-A wunderkinds through the difficult life process of choosing one high-paying career over another one, and maybe complaining about taxes and poor service at French Laundry on your blog. It's a little oversimplified, but wanted to bring back the notion that the startup scene also represents a path to success for creative and strange people without otherwise great career options. It's not just a way for Harvard kids to make as much money as they would in banking without having to wear a suit.