3 ms·

He came from outside the valley, started from zero, and earned his way to this so called "network" by building things that got people excited.

seppin 9y ago
> He came from outside the valley who didn't? It's not Hollywood, there are no legacy cases
- cocktailpeanuts 9y ago
  and your point is?
- foobiekr 9y ago
  you'd be surprised how many legacy cases there are in the valley. the right internship, first job, quick promotion ....
- singersouler 9y ago
  Nah it's not just pure coincidence that a 4/5 vcs and founders have similar economic backgrounds. Ev came from an unusually humble background for Silicon Valley. Steve Jobs was from Silicon Valley but grew up poor. Reid Hoffman's mom hooked him up with vc money and a network, cause she was a rich lawyer at a fancy firm iirc. Very few people that grew up poor are successful in Silicon Valley but they may be the most impactful as a population.
  - free2rhyme214 9y ago
    Everything is timing.
    - wiz21c 9y ago
      nah, everything is parents
      - free2rhyme214 9y ago
        Does Airbnb and Instacart have a lot of patents? Or was it their timing?
  - thaumasiotes 9y ago
    > Steve Jobs was from Silicon Valley but grew up poor. "Poor" may be stretching things a bit.
    - huxley 9y ago
      Compared to most Silicon Valley founders he was, his adoptive parents were blue collar with no college education. His dad made most of his money as a repo man. Part of the agreement his biological mother made with the Jobs family to allow them to adopt was that Steve had to go to college.
wyclif 9y ago
I was surprised recently that my wife knows who Ev Williams is (she's not technical at all, doesn't blog, and doesn't tweet). Surprised because he's not Gates/Jobs/Zuckerberg famous. Yet, I guess it makes sense because being responsible for blogging and Twitter is a pretty big footprint of influence even if he's a lot more low-profile and non-aggrandizing than those other guys.

seppin 9y ago

> He came from outside the valley who didn't? It's not Hollywood, there are no legacy cases

cocktailpeanuts 9y ago
and your point is?
foobiekr 9y ago
you'd be surprised how many legacy cases there are in the valley. the right internship, first job, quick promotion ....
singersouler 9y ago
Nah it's not just pure coincidence that a 4/5 vcs and founders have similar economic backgrounds. Ev came from an unusually humble background for Silicon Valley. Steve Jobs was from Silicon Valley but grew up poor. Reid Hoffman's mom hooked him up with vc money and a network, cause she was a rich lawyer at a fancy firm iirc. Very few people that grew up poor are successful in Silicon Valley but they may be the most impactful as a population.
- free2rhyme214 9y ago
  Everything is timing.
  - wiz21c 9y ago
    nah, everything is parents
    - free2rhyme214 9y ago
      Does Airbnb and Instacart have a lot of patents? Or was it their timing?
- thaumasiotes 9y ago
  > Steve Jobs was from Silicon Valley but grew up poor. "Poor" may be stretching things a bit.
  - huxley 9y ago
    Compared to most Silicon Valley founders he was, his adoptive parents were blue collar with no college education. His dad made most of his money as a repo man. Part of the agreement his biological mother made with the Jobs family to allow them to adopt was that Steve had to go to college.

wyclif 9y ago

I was surprised recently that my wife knows who Ev Williams is (she's not technical at all, doesn't blog, and doesn't tweet). Surprised because he's not Gates/Jobs/Zuckerberg famous. Yet, I guess it makes sense because being responsible for blogging and Twitter is a pretty big footprint of influence even if he's a lot more low-profile and non-aggrandizing than those other guys.