>Having parents who are able to lend / invest / gift modest sums of money is yet another step up the ladder. >All the way up to having parents with business /

>Having parents who are able to lend / invest / gift modest sums of money is yet another step up the ladder. >All the way up to having parents with business / political contacts in the industry you are trying to move into. Well that and understanding how to leverage those contacts. I have people in my social circle that could serve as contacts, but the idea of asking for that makes me extremely uncomfortable. And if I somehow forced myself to do it, it would still end up in a "what now" situation because it's not really clear what next steps are. I think the kind of people who know how to operate in those circles have a skillset that's not taught in a CS/EE curriculum.