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>Preamble: I'm extremely lucky. ... So what you're going to read is 99% luck and 1% planets alignment. I mean, that's pretty much it and he states it up front.

>Preamble: I'm extremely lucky. ... So what you're going to read is 99% luck and 1% planets alignment. I mean, that's pretty much it and he states it up front. If that's the crux, then why write about this other than to brag?

WithinReason 5y ago
"I was born in a developed country in the 80s (Italy), with access to fresh water, very good carbohydrates and a decent education system." If you grew up in a developed country, you're extremely lucky too.
amelius 5y ago
Next up: how I won the lottery
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
youhavetosayit 5y ago
Account for luck bias, but then read the recipe.
mikestew 5y ago
So I read your point to be that as long as one rolls a good base character, like being born in a developed country with a good education system and fresh water, the rest just takes care of itself? You know that's not right.
go_elmo 5y ago
Thats just being humble. Most successful people think its that way because they are special and worked hard. Wrong. Most people work hard, its the LUCK many underestimate. Being aware of this is healthy in so many ways, especially socially.
- ed25519FUUU 5y ago
  Luck and hard work aren't exclusive attributes for success.
  - go_elmo 5y ago
    Didnt say so, did I? Hard work is necessary but not sufficient, thats my statement.
  - canaus 5y ago
    What other attributes are there for success?
    - DeathArrow 5y ago
      Being intelligent.
- bluecalm 5y ago
  There are many other things you need other then hard work or luck. For example if you work very hard as an elementary school teacher no amount of luck will make you a millionaire. I think there is a lot of skill involved in getting into spots where you are even exposed to the opportunity and then you need luck but maybe less then you think as there are so many opportunities around it would be just very unlucky to not stumble into one after a while (that is assuming you're born in reasonably not poor country, healthy and to parents that care about you).
  - claudiulodro 5y ago
    Interestingly, Ramsey Solutions' study of 10,000 millionaires found that teacher is actually one of the top 5 careers for millionaires: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/the-national-study-of-millionaires-research https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/the-national-stud... (Disclaimer: there may be confounding variables the study didn't account for)
    - 5y ago
GDC7 5y ago
> Preamble: I'm extremely lucky. ... So what you're going to read is 99% luck and 1% planets alignment. We are all extremely lucky. We are just too cowards to move to Nigeria or South Africa or Ethiopia or El Salvador to cash out on this super luck that we had. Reasons are health infrastructure, being far from parents and family, fear of violence, fear of diseases. They are all valid. But by the same token there is an element of cowardness about looking at prices of stuff in foreign countries on Numbeo.com, calculate the churn rate and never actually act upon such thought. Arrange your affairs to be a big fish in a small pond, if we don't make the mental leap we will never do it, because no matter how much you have there's always gonna be a bigger pond or a largest challenge. It's a form of mental rumination I think, looking at people like Gates and Bezos...they have it in full swing. They could own the universe and there is once in a billion chance of multiverses and they'd keep working to make sure they take on the new challanges that those multiverses represent
- asmos7 5y ago
  I fail to see what good it is to own a mansion and have a bunch of toys if you live in a dangerous area where you have to put up a gate, have armed guards and in general worry about someone knocking you over the head and stealing your shit. Being the richest person in the ghetto is like being tallest midget - who cares.
  - GDC7 5y ago
    And none of that happens anywhere basically (except maybe some barrios in El Salvador or Venezuela) Besides, in this world the shit is everywhere it's just the color that changes and the window dressing that makes people believe otherwise. I'd rather deal with impoverished people and deal personally with my security than some scum of Silicon Valley such as Elizabeth Holmes or Elon Musk.
    - wonderwonder 5y ago
      I am from a third world country and moved to the US. I have seen plenty of violence from where I am from. Elon musk has never tried to car jack me.
smabie 5y ago
You can't get struck by lightning unless you out walking in the thunderstorm
marcinjachymiak 5y ago
A large proportion of readers on HN are also quite lucky in similar ways to OP and can make this work. This lifestyle also requires less luck now with remote work having taken off big time.
jhickok 5y ago
I mean his other three points are actually pretty good: 1. don't compete 2. live cheap 3. invest lots of young programmers dont think that proactively and thus miss out on a lot of money.
asdfasgasdgasdg 5y ago
The luck here is being born into a decent family in a first world country and having an interest in/talent for technology. It is true that having those things are unearned, but many people have those things and yet still are not millionaires or work very hard to become millionaires. This guide is still useful for such individuals, despite the luck factor in having those good starting conditions.
hsn915 5y ago
As far as I can tell, this piece is irrelevant to the rest of the article. That's just a way to humble brag. If you read the paragraph, it doesn't actually say much: > I was born in a developed country in the 80s (Italy), with access to fresh water, very good carbohydrates and a decent education system. Yea, I was born in a "developing" aka "backward" middle eastern country in the 80s, but I still had access to fresh water and good food and decent education. Some of my cousins lived through civil wars and still managed to learn computer progrmaming while living in the civil-warn torn country.
dudeman13 5y ago
>If that's the crux, then why write about this other than to brag? Haven't you noticed how pervasive the "no, I'm self made and being lucky has nothing to do with it" myth is around these parts? Despite how trivial it is to observe the opposite. Spending a week or two living in a favela or any third world country slum easily disabuses people from harbouring such notions... Or we could just culturally recognize how much it's all about luck.
wonderwonder 5y ago
If you read further, his luck is based on being born in a first world country. Something that most of the people on this board can claim. Everything else he accomplished was part of his plan that a good percentage of the people on this board could likely follow.

WithinReason 5y ago

"I was born in a developed country in the 80s (Italy), with access to fresh water, very good carbohydrates and a decent education system." If you grew up in a developed country, you're extremely lucky too.

amelius 5y ago

Next up: how I won the lottery

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

youhavetosayit 5y ago

Account for luck bias, but then read the recipe.

mikestew 5y ago

So I read your point to be that as long as one rolls a good base character, like being born in a developed country with a good education system and fresh water, the rest just takes care of itself? You know that's not right.

go_elmo 5y ago

Thats just being humble. Most successful people think its that way because they are special and worked hard. Wrong. Most people work hard, its the LUCK many underestimate. Being aware of this is healthy in so many ways, especially socially.

ed25519FUUU 5y ago
Luck and hard work aren't exclusive attributes for success.
- go_elmo 5y ago
  Didnt say so, did I? Hard work is necessary but not sufficient, thats my statement.
- canaus 5y ago
  What other attributes are there for success?
  - DeathArrow 5y ago
    Being intelligent.
bluecalm 5y ago
There are many other things you need other then hard work or luck. For example if you work very hard as an elementary school teacher no amount of luck will make you a millionaire. I think there is a lot of skill involved in getting into spots where you are even exposed to the opportunity and then you need luck but maybe less then you think as there are so many opportunities around it would be just very unlucky to not stumble into one after a while (that is assuming you're born in reasonably not poor country, healthy and to parents that care about you).
- claudiulodro 5y ago
  Interestingly, Ramsey Solutions' study of 10,000 millionaires found that teacher is actually one of the top 5 careers for millionaires: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/the-national-study-of-millionaires-research https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/the-national-stud... (Disclaimer: there may be confounding variables the study didn't account for)
  - 5y ago

GDC7 5y ago

> Preamble: I'm extremely lucky. ... So what you're going to read is 99% luck and 1% planets alignment. We are all extremely lucky. We are just too cowards to move to Nigeria or South Africa or Ethiopia or El Salvador to cash out on this super luck that we had. Reasons are health infrastructure, being far from parents and family, fear of violence, fear of diseases. They are all valid. But by the same token there is an element of cowardness about looking at prices of stuff in foreign countries on Numbeo.com, calculate the churn rate and never actually act upon such thought. Arrange your affairs to be a big fish in a small pond, if we don't make the mental leap we will never do it, because no matter how much you have there's always gonna be a bigger pond or a largest challenge. It's a form of mental rumination I think, looking at people like Gates and Bezos...they have it in full swing. They could own the universe and there is once in a billion chance of multiverses and they'd keep working to make sure they take on the new challanges that those multiverses represent

asmos7 5y ago
I fail to see what good it is to own a mansion and have a bunch of toys if you live in a dangerous area where you have to put up a gate, have armed guards and in general worry about someone knocking you over the head and stealing your shit. Being the richest person in the ghetto is like being tallest midget - who cares.
- GDC7 5y ago
  And none of that happens anywhere basically (except maybe some barrios in El Salvador or Venezuela) Besides, in this world the shit is everywhere it's just the color that changes and the window dressing that makes people believe otherwise. I'd rather deal with impoverished people and deal personally with my security than some scum of Silicon Valley such as Elizabeth Holmes or Elon Musk.
  - wonderwonder 5y ago
    I am from a third world country and moved to the US. I have seen plenty of violence from where I am from. Elon musk has never tried to car jack me.

smabie 5y ago

You can't get struck by lightning unless you out walking in the thunderstorm

marcinjachymiak 5y ago

A large proportion of readers on HN are also quite lucky in similar ways to OP and can make this work. This lifestyle also requires less luck now with remote work having taken off big time.

jhickok 5y ago

I mean his other three points are actually pretty good: 1. don't compete 2. live cheap 3. invest lots of young programmers dont think that proactively and thus miss out on a lot of money.

asdfasgasdgasdg 5y ago

The luck here is being born into a decent family in a first world country and having an interest in/talent for technology. It is true that having those things are unearned, but many people have those things and yet still are not millionaires or work very hard to become millionaires. This guide is still useful for such individuals, despite the luck factor in having those good starting conditions.

hsn915 5y ago

As far as I can tell, this piece is irrelevant to the rest of the article. That's just a way to humble brag. If you read the paragraph, it doesn't actually say much: > I was born in a developed country in the 80s (Italy), with access to fresh water, very good carbohydrates and a decent education system. Yea, I was born in a "developing" aka "backward" middle eastern country in the 80s, but I still had access to fresh water and good food and decent education. Some of my cousins lived through civil wars and still managed to learn computer progrmaming while living in the civil-warn torn country.

dudeman13 5y ago

>If that's the crux, then why write about this other than to brag? Haven't you noticed how pervasive the "no, I'm self made and being lucky has nothing to do with it" myth is around these parts? Despite how trivial it is to observe the opposite. Spending a week or two living in a favela or any third world country slum easily disabuses people from harbouring such notions... Or we could just culturally recognize how much it's all about luck.

wonderwonder 5y ago

If you read further, his luck is based on being born in a first world country. Something that most of the people on this board can claim. Everything else he accomplished was part of his plan that a good percentage of the people on this board could likely follow.