5 ms·

Your comment doesn't hold up to real-world facts. Plenty of founders with startup success have come from humble backgrounds, and plenty of rich kids try to star

Your comment doesn't hold up to real-world facts. Plenty of founders with startup success have come from humble backgrounds, and plenty of rich kids try to start businesses but never make anything viable or profitable.

whateveracct 5y ago
Neither of those existential facts refute the premise necessarily
nytesky 5y ago
I would be very curious to hear about founders of successful startups from humble backgrounds, and curious what you consider humble? For me, that would be growing up going to a non-elite public high school, college on scholarship, parents who are like plumbers or high school teachers or insurance agent.
- whytai 5y ago
  Palmer Lucky?
  - nytesky 5y ago
    Well, from Wikipedia his dad worked at a car dealership, but they lived quite well, with a stay-at-home mom, sailing lessons, and gobs of money on equipment. That sounds fairly well to do. "As a child he was homeschooled by his mother, took sailing lessons,[7] and had an intense interest in electronics and engineering.[3][8] He took community college courses at Golden West College and Long Beach City College[5] beginning at the age of 14 or 15, and started attending courses at California State University, Long Beach[1] in 2010.[6] He wrote and served as online editor for the university's student-run newspaper, Daily 49er.[9] During his childhood and teenage years, Luckey experimented with a variety of complex electronics projects including railguns, Tesla coils, and lasers, with some of these projects resulting in serious injuries.[1] He built a PC gaming "rig" worth tens of thousands of U.S. dollars[8] with an elaborate six-monitor setup.[10] His desire to immerse himself in computer-generated worlds led to an obsession with virtual reality (VR)."
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - exolymph 5y ago
      What, middle class normalcy doesn't count, you're specifically looking for destitute children who went on to make millions? Seeking a Horatio Alger story? It's not exactly surprising that grinding poverty doesn't yield a lot of unicorn founders. Not sure why you'd think that was a reasonable expectation or litmus test.
- nostrademons 5y ago
  Steve Jobs of Apple (machinist and accountant parents, neither of whom had a college degree. Dropped out of Reed College). Jan Koum of Whatsapp (Ukrainian immigrant, came to U.S. with nothing, was on food stamps as a teenager). Brian Chesky of AirBnB (child of social workers, attended RISD). Sergey Brin of Google (parents were professors, but emigrated from the Soviet Union with nothing. Attended University of Maryland). Marc Andreesen of Netscape, Loudcloud, Ning, and a16z (parents worked for Land's End and a seed company, grew up in cornfields of Iowa, attended UIUC).
  - Hydraulix989 5y ago
    RISD is a very prestigious art school though? Also, add Chad Hurley co-founder of YouTube to the list: (Public school in rural red county Pennsylvania, Indiana University of Pennsylvania for college)
    - nytesky 5y ago
      $10k on recreational electronics is not something most middle class parents would entertain.

whateveracct 5y ago

Neither of those existential facts refute the premise necessarily

nytesky 5y ago

I would be very curious to hear about founders of successful startups from humble backgrounds, and curious what you consider humble? For me, that would be growing up going to a non-elite public high school, college on scholarship, parents who are like plumbers or high school teachers or insurance agent.

whytai 5y ago
Palmer Lucky?
- nytesky 5y ago
  Well, from Wikipedia his dad worked at a car dealership, but they lived quite well, with a stay-at-home mom, sailing lessons, and gobs of money on equipment. That sounds fairly well to do. "As a child he was homeschooled by his mother, took sailing lessons,[7] and had an intense interest in electronics and engineering.[3][8] He took community college courses at Golden West College and Long Beach City College[5] beginning at the age of 14 or 15, and started attending courses at California State University, Long Beach[1] in 2010.[6] He wrote and served as online editor for the university's student-run newspaper, Daily 49er.[9] During his childhood and teenage years, Luckey experimented with a variety of complex electronics projects including railguns, Tesla coils, and lasers, with some of these projects resulting in serious injuries.[1] He built a PC gaming "rig" worth tens of thousands of U.S. dollars[8] with an elaborate six-monitor setup.[10] His desire to immerse himself in computer-generated worlds led to an obsession with virtual reality (VR)."
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - exolymph 5y ago
    What, middle class normalcy doesn't count, you're specifically looking for destitute children who went on to make millions? Seeking a Horatio Alger story? It's not exactly surprising that grinding poverty doesn't yield a lot of unicorn founders. Not sure why you'd think that was a reasonable expectation or litmus test.
nostrademons 5y ago
Steve Jobs of Apple (machinist and accountant parents, neither of whom had a college degree. Dropped out of Reed College). Jan Koum of Whatsapp (Ukrainian immigrant, came to U.S. with nothing, was on food stamps as a teenager). Brian Chesky of AirBnB (child of social workers, attended RISD). Sergey Brin of Google (parents were professors, but emigrated from the Soviet Union with nothing. Attended University of Maryland). Marc Andreesen of Netscape, Loudcloud, Ning, and a16z (parents worked for Land's End and a seed company, grew up in cornfields of Iowa, attended UIUC).
- Hydraulix989 5y ago
  RISD is a very prestigious art school though? Also, add Chad Hurley co-founder of YouTube to the list: (Public school in rural red county Pennsylvania, Indiana University of Pennsylvania for college)
  - nytesky 5y ago
    $10k on recreational electronics is not something most middle class parents would entertain.