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> They didn't need to work their backsides off to get to where they are. Isn't is possible that they got incredibly lucky AND worked their backsides off? It s

by m52go 8y ago

> They didn't need to work their backsides off to get to where they are. Isn't is possible that they got incredibly lucky AND worked their backsides off? It should be clear that (1) abundant money and (2) abundant brains and (3) abundant luck are ALL necessary criteria for out-sized successes.

Alex3917 8y ago
This. To whatever extent Mark Zuckerberg's success is attributable to luck, let's not forget that he's still probably one of the ten smartest people in the tech industry.
- pofilat 8y ago
  > he's still probably one of the ten smartest people in the tech industry. That's absurd.
  - repolfx 8y ago
    Is it? Depends how you define smart but Zuck has consistently made unconventional moves, very young, that turned out to be wildly correct. He started by limiting Facebook to colleges so it could scale. He was able to attract top class engineering talent to help him. He entered a crowded market and obliterated all his competitors entirely through having a superior social networking product. He retained control over his own company - avoiding the kind of agist outing that Larry Page and Sergey Brin experienced (i.e. investors who demanded "adult supervision" in the form of Eric Schmidt). He convinced Instagram to sell, and made it profitable, apparently. He convinced WhatsApp to sell and probably will make it profitable. How many people in the tech industry can point to such a track record at all, let alone at Zuck's age? The guy doesn't only seriously understand tech. He also understands people.
    - Alex3917 8y ago
      He also made the right call by going all in on mobile at exactly the right time. And he has one of the best research teams in the industry. For whatever missteps they've made, on the balance it's been absurdly well run. I think he easily makes the list of the top ten smartest people in tech, along with Bezos, Scott Cook, Jonah Peretti, etc.
- pwinnski 8y ago
  I'm not even sure I'd bet he's one of the ten smartest people at Facebook.
ryandrake 8y ago
It’s also possible that hard work is not necessary for or predictive of success. There are tons of people who are hard working but unlucky, who are not successful. There are also plenty of people who are not hard working but at one point got their lucky break and are successful. Hard working or not, it’s hard to find an example billionaire who, if you look back far enough, didn’t have some lucky event that enabled that success.

by m52go 8y ago

Alex3917 8y ago

This. To whatever extent Mark Zuckerberg's success is attributable to luck, let's not forget that he's still probably one of the ten smartest people in the tech industry.

pofilat 8y ago
> he's still probably one of the ten smartest people in the tech industry. That's absurd.
- repolfx 8y ago
  Is it? Depends how you define smart but Zuck has consistently made unconventional moves, very young, that turned out to be wildly correct. He started by limiting Facebook to colleges so it could scale. He was able to attract top class engineering talent to help him. He entered a crowded market and obliterated all his competitors entirely through having a superior social networking product. He retained control over his own company - avoiding the kind of agist outing that Larry Page and Sergey Brin experienced (i.e. investors who demanded "adult supervision" in the form of Eric Schmidt). He convinced Instagram to sell, and made it profitable, apparently. He convinced WhatsApp to sell and probably will make it profitable. How many people in the tech industry can point to such a track record at all, let alone at Zuck's age? The guy doesn't only seriously understand tech. He also understands people.
  - Alex3917 8y ago
    He also made the right call by going all in on mobile at exactly the right time. And he has one of the best research teams in the industry. For whatever missteps they've made, on the balance it's been absurdly well run. I think he easily makes the list of the top ten smartest people in tech, along with Bezos, Scott Cook, Jonah Peretti, etc.
pwinnski 8y ago
I'm not even sure I'd bet he's one of the ten smartest people at Facebook.

ryandrake 8y ago

It’s also possible that hard work is not necessary for or predictive of success. There are tons of people who are hard working but unlucky, who are not successful. There are also plenty of people who are not hard working but at one point got their lucky break and are successful. Hard working or not, it’s hard to find an example billionaire who, if you look back far enough, didn’t have some lucky event that enabled that success.