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While what he has done should be commended, I don't think it's fair to say that he "started from nothing". His own mother was an entrepreneur, obviously not as

• adventured 9y ago
  The point is that he built his businesses from scratch, and did so with a significant learning disability that meant he struggled to understand even basic P&L statements and balance sheets. His mother didn't build his record store or record label. His mother didn't build his airline. His mother didn't build his brand. His early business successes were built from nothing. They weren't seeded with millions of dollars. They weren't inherited. He rolled one success into another. This obnoxious notion, so common on HN, that someone has to crawl out of a ditch with not a penny to their name, or they're not self-made or deserving of any credit for their own success, needs to stop. It eliminates nearly every possible success story that could exist (which is of course the whole point). It's nothing more than a base envious desire to drag someone down because they've been successful.
  • sidlls 9y ago
    On the other end is the absurd notion that someone who starts with a (comparatively) huge cushion or even more is "self-made" in any meaningful sense of the term. Take this example: Bill Gates as compared with Jan Koum. Applying the label "self-made" to both of them is nonsense. There's nothing "envious" in pointing out that one had a lot more going for him than the other.