4 ms·

I Got Lucky

45 points by terpua 18y ago

edw519 18y ago
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Seneca
- ambition 18y ago
  I'm scared of what happens when preparation doesn't meet opportunity.
  - Alex3917 18y ago
    Once you hit a certain level of preparedness you realize that once-in-a-lifetime opportunities don't really exist.
  - tom_rath 18y ago
    Bitterness.
prakash 18y ago
This is why I like, and have been reading Fred's blog for years: he is honest and forthcoming on his blog.
ilamont 18y ago
Interesting ... I wonder how his career would have worked out if he had started in the VC business in the early 1980s, instead of the mid 1980s or later? Or, if he didn't have the software background?
alaskamiller 18y ago
Sometimes the easiest part of success is just showing up.
dcurtis 18y ago
He doesn't explain how he got rich though... "I joined a VC" ... "I was lucky!" I'd be interested in hearing a lot more about his past and how he forced his way into the VC industry with no experience.
- fredwilson 18y ago
  well i sort of did. we turned $150mm into $750mm from 1996 to 2000. vc's generally get paid 20% of their profits so take 20% of $600mm and then split that with Jerry and a few others and that's where the money came from. i've made more since, but that was the initial payday. up until then, we were eating ramen the week the mortgage was due.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
fredwilson 18y ago
if you want more history, i'll work on a few more posts like this one. it's not so easy for me to do because it seems sort of self centered. the reason i did this one is a guy getting out of b-school asked me to. i would love to see a way to pump all this discussion on hacker news into disqus so that it gets onto my blog. there's a good discussion going on there that you all would be added value to
- wumi 18y ago
  http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42275 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42275 "1 point by ph0rque 290 days ago | link I guess what I had in mind is to somehow link the disqus users with news.YC users so that e.g. Fred Wilson would not have to re-register at news.YC."
- bootload 18y ago
  "... i would love to see a way to pump all this discussion on hacker news into disqus ..." This quote resonates a lot. Especially after reading Stowe Boyds` response "Fred Wilson on Leaving The Instigator Out: Small Worlds v Big World" on exactly this problem ~ http://www.stoweboyd.com/message/2008/05/a-vc-web-discus.html http://www.stoweboyd.com/message/2008/05/a-vc-web-discus.htm...
davidw 18y ago
"Black Swan". What's up with the [dead] "fredwilson" comments, BTW?

I Got Lucky

45 points by terpua 18y ago

edw519 18y ago

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Seneca

ambition 18y ago
I'm scared of what happens when preparation doesn't meet opportunity.
- Alex3917 18y ago
  Once you hit a certain level of preparedness you realize that once-in-a-lifetime opportunities don't really exist.
- tom_rath 18y ago
  Bitterness.

prakash 18y ago

This is why I like, and have been reading Fred's blog for years: he is honest and forthcoming on his blog.

ilamont 18y ago

Interesting ... I wonder how his career would have worked out if he had started in the VC business in the early 1980s, instead of the mid 1980s or later? Or, if he didn't have the software background?

alaskamiller 18y ago

Sometimes the easiest part of success is just showing up.

dcurtis 18y ago

He doesn't explain how he got rich though... "I joined a VC" ... "I was lucky!" I'd be interested in hearing a lot more about his past and how he forced his way into the VC industry with no experience.

fredwilson 18y ago
well i sort of did. we turned $150mm into $750mm from 1996 to 2000. vc's generally get paid 20% of their profits so take 20% of $600mm and then split that with Jerry and a few others and that's where the money came from. i've made more since, but that was the initial payday. up until then, we were eating ramen the week the mortgage was due.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]

fredwilson 18y ago

if you want more history, i'll work on a few more posts like this one. it's not so easy for me to do because it seems sort of self centered. the reason i did this one is a guy getting out of b-school asked me to. i would love to see a way to pump all this discussion on hacker news into disqus so that it gets onto my blog. there's a good discussion going on there that you all would be added value to

wumi 18y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42275 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42275 "1 point by ph0rque 290 days ago | link I guess what I had in mind is to somehow link the disqus users with news.YC users so that e.g. Fred Wilson would not have to re-register at news.YC."
bootload 18y ago
"... i would love to see a way to pump all this discussion on hacker news into disqus ..." This quote resonates a lot. Especially after reading Stowe Boyds` response "Fred Wilson on Leaving The Instigator Out: Small Worlds v Big World" on exactly this problem ~ http://www.stoweboyd.com/message/2008/05/a-vc-web-discus.html http://www.stoweboyd.com/message/2008/05/a-vc-web-discus.htm...

davidw 18y ago

"Black Swan". What's up with the [dead] "fredwilson" comments, BTW?