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Simplifying it down to "multiplying wealth by 10,000x" is naive. It's a lot easier to turn $10M into $100B than it is to turn $100 into $1M. With $10M, you al
by Sohcahtoa82 6y ago
Simplifying it down to "multiplying wealth by 10,000x" is naive.
It's a lot easier to turn $10M into $100B than it is to turn $100 into $1M.
With $10M, you already have the basics handled. You can have a house and car that are paid off and enough cash stashed away to handle living expenses for the rest of your life and still have $7M+ to piss away. If you're smart and never dip into the funds reserved for lifetime living expenses, it's impossible to fail.
With only $100, you're struggling to put food on the table. Possibly even working two jobs with no time to work on building a business.
And here, I haven't even touched on the concept of "connections". Someone with an 8-figure bank account likely knows who to talk to when it comes to getting a product in front of the right people.
If Bill's parents had only $100 and turned it into $1M, then definitely, he'd be self-made. But since he started with likely an 8-figure backing, he's definitely not.
- MR4D 6y ago> It's a lot easier to turn $10M into $100B than it is to turn $100 into $1M. Baloney! If it were, there would be tons of people with Bill Gates level wealth! (last I checked, there were only 2 - him and Bezos). The facts speak for themselves. ======= EDIT: After rereading this comment, the tone I have ("Baloney!") seems harsher than Iintended. Still, I'll leave it as such because I don't like to change what I wrote on HN. Please don't take it as an insult, but rather as emphasis of the extent that I disagree with your point.
- Sohcahtoa82 6y agoI said "easier", not "easy". But even if we tone it down by an order of magnitude or even two, I think it still applies. I think turning $10M into $1B is easier than turning $100 into $10,000, for the same reasons outlined above. Don't underestimate the massive impact it has to be starting at a level where living expenses are of zero concern.
- SamReidHughes 6y agoAt $100 you can just work for wages until you have more money.
- Sohcahtoa82 6y agoEasier said than done when you have a low-wage job.
- SamReidHughes 6y agoThen join the military and build up savings. You're only stuck in a $100 asset hole if you refuse to do anything about it, or if you intrinsically offer no value to the world.
- MR4D 6y agoAlso, you are assuming that he started with an "8-figure backing". Highly doubtful - I'll look it up later and do a mea-culpa if I'm wrong, but if his parents gave him $10+ million in the mid 1970's, I'll eat my hat.
- TheCoelacanth 6y ago10 million in liquid cash, probably not, but the introduction his mother gave him to the CEO of IBM (they were on the board of United Way together) probably ended up being worth considerably more.
- SamReidHughes 6y agoIf you were working two jobs, you’d have more than $100.
- causehealth101 6y agoThis exactly. It's a whole different scale.