There's another important trend in these two examples that generalizes well beyond just machine learning. If you show a willingness to scrape resources togethe

There's another important trend in these two examples that generalizes well beyond just machine learning. If you show a willingness to scrape resources together to work on difficult problems, that's scrappier than the majority of your competition for the job. Startups love that. Of course actual technical skill matters, but in my experience, the willingness to reach for aspirational goals is rarer than baseline competence, so I'll happily interview someone who shows that specific trait.